Trusting Phantom
by TheOneWhoStoleYourCheese
Summary: Maddie promises that while Jack, Danny and Jazz are away, she will use the four days to get to know Phantom better, putting aside her judgments of him. But when Phantom gets hurt in a fight against Skulker and his powers malfunction, will she know get to know more about Phantom than she should? Will she end him in his moment of weakness? Or will she let him live?
1. The Promise

"Danny asked me to tell you that he's staying at Tucker's tonight," Jazz called through the house, "He's got some kind of film assignment for English and they need to work on it."

Maddie popped her head around the kitchen wall. "Why can't they do it he –" A massive boom sounded through the house reverberating through the walls. A muffled "I'm ok!" could be heard from down in the lab.

"That's why." Jazz stated before Maddie had a chance to say anything else.

"I better go see what I need to fix now." Maddie sighed and cast an apologetic smile to her daughter before disappearing down the stairs.

"JACK FENTON WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" The shriek would have been heard by the whole town if not for the sound proof walls that encased the lab. It looked like a small explosion had gone off, and judging by the look on Jacks face, it might have.

"I did it, Maddie! I did it!" Said Jack with his face beaming with pride, "I did it, I did it, who did it? I DID IT!" He continued to sing and poke Maddie in the stomach

"If by 'I did it' you mean DESTROYING THE WHOLE LAB, then, yes, you did in fact 'do it' and I suggest you UNDO IT NOW!" She picked her way over to the wall where her files were lying, scorch marks evident on all of them... Well, the ones that hadn't already been completely burnt away. All of her detailed notes on ghosts, and all the time spent gathering them was destroyed! "Jack! We lost all the files! Every last one of them! These took so much time and effort to put together. But of course this would happen. Really it's my fault, I should just expect this to happen from now on..." She trailed off into incoherent mutterings.

"But Maddie! We can use this on the ghost boy! That way he won't have any way to escape when we try to rip him apart molecule by molecule! This baby 'll do it for us!" Jack smiled at his own work, "I can't wait to show this thing off at the convention!" And before she could say another word he was up the stairs and out of the lab.

Maddie had only just crouched down on the ground to pick up the pieces of broken glass before she heard Jazz's shoes start to click down the stairs. She seemed to pause before taking a big breath and bending down to assist her mother. "Here mum," Jazz smiled ruefully at the burnt heap that once was her mother's detailed notes, "I'll help." She carefully avoided her mother's gaze as she carefully picked up the shards of broken beakers off the floor.

_"What's on her mind?"_ Maddie wondered, "_She looks worried. Should I say something? Maybe she's just nervous for the introductory day…" _Jazz had already been accepted into not only Harvard but Yale _and_ was leaving for the introductory day for Stanford in a few minutes. Maddie looked up at her daughter. She had no idea how they had drifted apart so quickly, or when, but she was starting to get as bad as Danny. More than her usual seriousness, she seemed even more protective over him. She also had seemed to grow an interest in her parent's ghost hunting business, something Maddie never expected from her daughter, whereas Danny steered clear of all things ghostly. Not that she could blame him after the portal incident and the fact that now all of their weapons lock onto his DNA for some reason... Danny had started to worry Maddie well before Jazz had. Every day he would come home from school looking tired and dishevelled but no matter how much she asked him, his answer would always be the same lie. "I'm fine mum." She had asked Mr Lancer to keep an eye on him, nothing too obvious, so she might be able to find out what's happening to her son. However, nothing too strange seemed to be happening apart from her son's extra long toilet brakes (although she could imagine that he was just using the toilet as an excuse to get out of class) and Dash Baxter shoving him into a locker every other day, although Mr Lancer had tried to put an end to that. It seemed these days her two kids were closer than ever but were now avoiding their parents. Not only was Jazz now almost as close with Sam and Tucker as Danny was, but with just one look from Danny, they both would disappear off to do God knows what at least once a day. Maddie hadn't a clue what they were doing, the only explanation being the feeble excuses that they would give - sometimes a different one each day where as other times, it would be the same for almost a week. It seemed to her as if Jazz knew what was going on with Danny, although try as she might, Maddie just couldn't get it out of her.

"Well I found what Dad was aiming at," Jazz pointed to the tragic remains of the rubbish bin and sighed, "I'll go get another one."

"Sweetie," Jazz paused at the stairs, "What's on your mind?" The concern was evident on Maddie's face, causing Jazz to reluctantly sit down on the floor next to her mother.

"Have you-" She took a deep breath and calmed her thoughts. "_How am I going to say this? Right. Psychology 101 – state the situation, state how I feel, state what I think can be done about it. Don't accuse, merely present the facts". _However, when Jazz next opened her mouth the words came tumbling out without her consent, or any real coherent thought. "Have you ever... I mean would... No! Ugh. Just... HaveyoueverconsideredthatPhantommightbegood?" She winced that her own word vomit but didn't bother to ask the question again.

"That's what's bothering you?" Maddie arched an eyebrow, "You think that _Phantom_ might be _good_." She snorted, "Jazz, I understand that you may want to see the best in people. But Phantom is not a person; therefore he has no good in him to see. I am sorry sweetie but he-"

"Has no emotions to be good _with_. I _know. _You say this every time you see him. But he has saved this town, and its people, _way_ too many times for that to be true. He cares too much to not have emotions. _I_ accept that _I,_ sometimes need more evidence because things just aren't adding up. So I go out and I find certainties – concrete evidence that _proves my theory_ right, or wrong. You need to do this too – you're either dead right, in which case you can say I told you so as many times as you want, completely wrong, or, he might just be an exception."

"Ghost's can't feel though Jazz! It's impossible! They are dead. They have no more humanity, if they did, they wouldn't do the things they do! That itself is proof enough!" Maddie sighed exasperated.

"But I want you to go and find out instead of just assuming he is bad! You are a scientist, scientists need evidence, and sometimes there are anomalies! I have learnt over the past few months that everything is not just black and white. Sometimes, there is a bit of green." Jazz finished with an expression set like stone.

"Don't you mean grey?" Maddie could help but smile at her daughter, arching an eyebrow.

"No. Green. Because you aren't just a bit wrong, you're very wrong. I believe, no, I _know_ that Phantom is different, that he's _good_, and I hope that soon, you will too. And before you ask how, it's because I have been bothered to see all the good stuff and not just focus on the bad stuff, of which there is very little." Maddie's mouth opened as she prepared her counter-argument but Jazz fixed her mum with a stern glare, "Nuh-uh. Don't start this argument with me. I am just about to leave, and I don't want to leave on an argument, Mum."And with that, she helped her mother up from the floor and looked her dead in the eye. "Promise, that while I'm at the introductory day, you'll try, just for one weekend, not to hunt him. Dad's gone so you can't use him as an excuse. You don't have to help him or even like him. I just want you to try and understand him. Ok? And if in four days when I get back, you _still_ think that he is completely evil, that's fine."

"Trust him? For four who-" Maddie's eyes widened.

"Please. Trust me." Jazz smiled a small smile, "Promise?"

"Promise." Maddie grumbled as she hugged her.

"Good. Now, I've gotta go so… See you in four days?"

"Have a good time, sweetie," She kissed her daughter on her forehead, "You have grown up so much these past few years, and I worry that you don't let your hair down as much as you should. Go have some fun!"

Jazz stared at the youthful looking woman in front of her, "Don't you go telling me to have fun and then go and not have fun yourself. Relax while Dad's gone okay?"

Maddie laughed at her daughter's concerned expression, "Don't you worry about me, sweetie. Now shoo! You'll be late."

With a final glance over her shoulder with an unreadable expression on her face, the girl with flaming red hair disappeared up the stairs and out of the lab.

Maddie threw a final glance at the destroyed papers in her hand before dumping them in the trash bin. "_So much for all that hard work." _She thought bitterly. Sighing heavily, she began to trudge up the stairs leading into the house.

"Hey, Mads! Are you sure you don't want to come? It'll be fun! We're their heroes!" Jack was all too excited to go to the annual Ghost And Spector Speeches (or the GASS), however for the first time in as many years as she can remember, Maddie wasn't going in case of a ghost (namely Phantom) emergency. _"Every year is the same anyway,"_ She thought as she remembered the countless speeches on ghosts, ghost envy, killing ghosts, the ghost zone, evil ghosts, how to stop yourself from becoming a ghost, and so on so forth. She really wasn't too disappointed about it anyways – Jack could cope just fine at the conference without her. After all, he may not know much else, but when it came to ghosts, he was an expert in the field. She looked into her husband's eyes, bright with the excitement of it all, "No honey. You know I have to stay behind in case of an 'emergency'." Jack actually understood what she was implying for once and let the subject drop. "I'll try not to have too much fun without you… But hey! Now I can have all the fudge to myself!" Maddie internally face-palmed. Trust Jack to think of the fudge. "I gotta go baby, but remember," Maddie's eyes lit up at the prospect of her husband say _those three_ words, but no. "The fudge is mine." She internally chided herself for expecting anything else. "I know honey. Now go have fun on your trip!"

She shooed him out the door and helped load the gear into the back of the Ghost Assault Vehicle (or the GAV for short) and closed the heavily-armoured door behind him. "Don't worry, Maddie, I'll see you in a few days." But Maddie wasn't worrying. Sure she loved the man to death and would never ever think of marrying anyone else, but it would be nice to have a break for once from the constant explosions and accidents for once. "Bye, Sweetie." She smiled and waved as he sped off down the road, causing several near-death experiences for the poor innocent pedestrians as he disappeared into the distance.

* * *

**Hey Guys!**

**Well... first of all, I feel I should introduce myself. **

**Hi. My name is TheOneWhoStoleYourCheese. I like long stroles in the park and most music (apart from really whiny love songs, bad country and screamo where you can't tell what they're saying). My favourite animal would have to be the blob fish and I like most colours apart from canary yellow and all shades of orange. My favourite fruits are apples (I know I am boring), tamarillos (NOT SO BORING NOW, EH?) and raspberries. I am a long time lurker, first time writer, so this is my first fic. I PROMISE I will update AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK.**

**PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! I need your opinions so I can improve. If anything is a bit OOC or just wrong (whether it be spelling wise, grammar wise, or character wise), let me know so I can fix it.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**~BAM. And the cheese is gone.~**


	2. Skulker's Captive

**Hi Guys! Thanks so much for the awesome response to my first chapter and all the reviews, follows and favourites! I know this chapter is short. Explination (not excuses) and more from me at the end... **

**I forgot to say this last chapter:**

**I STEAL CHEESE. NOT TV SHOWS. THIS SHOW (sadly) STILL BELONGS TO BUCH HARTMAN... AS FAR AS I KNOW... 'KAY? Oaky.**

**On with the chapter!**

Chunks of walls rained down onto street level as bystanders quickly fled the streets, putting into action the Fenton Ghost Attack Plan (also known as the FGAP or the '_OH MY GOD THERE'S A GHOST RUN' _plan). The wide eyes belonging to the citizens of Amity Park could be seen blinking though windows in whatever shelter was available, their upturned faces squinting in the winter sunlight, with warm breath fogging up the cool glass.

"You're getting better, metal-head." The spirit's neon-green eyes dancing playfully as he took in the look of frustration on the opponent's shiny, metallic face.

"I had an upgrade. This time, I _will_ have your pelt on my wall, Whelp!" Roared a mechanical ghost whilst being flung into the ground, forming a decent sized crater in the now deserted road.

"Ugh. When you realise that you will never have my pelt on your freaking wall! That's gross… Not to mention creepy… And unsanitary… And illegal… And just down ri-" The silver haired ghost skilfully dodges the dozen-or-so missiles that then exploded on the wall behind him, "Can you not?! I am in the middle of a rant here! At least let me finish before you try and blow me up! I mean seriously, Skulker, ever heard of manners?"

"Do you ever stop talking?!" The hunk of metal roared and rushed towards the ghostly teen, ectoplasmic bullets hissing through the air where, a second ago the younger spector had been floating. Counterattacking with some well-placed roundhouse kicks and an ectoblast for good measure, a cocky grin spread across the teenage ghost face. With a triumphant look at the ghost he called 'Skulker' smoking in a crater deep in the ground, his hands felt his hips as if searching for something. "DA- I mean… PHANTOM!" Yelled a girl from a nearby building, raising an eyebrow, she shook a thermos-like object back and forth in her hand, "Missing something?" With that comment, an African-American boy yelled out a warning and the silver cylinder flew directly towards the still hovering ghost. Catching it with ease, as if this was a regular occurrence, Phantom smirked and mouthed a thanks to the two human teens as he advanced towards the decent sized, smoking hole in the ground. "Any last words?" He teased, arching an eyebrow.

"Yes, actually." Replied mechanical voice of the clearly weakened and beaten ghost lying at the bottom of the crater.

"And what would they be?"

"Take this, Whelp." And before Phantom could react, two pincers of what looked like electricity jabbed into him, shocking him, once, twice, three times before dissipating. The sharp intake of breath from almost every member of the town was audible, but their hero had suffered worse right? Of course he would be fine.

"What… The.. Fuck… Was… That!?" Leant over panting, with his hands on his knees, fighting to stay conscious, the teen still had the energy for his glowing green eyes to send a glare that would send most running, kicking up dust in their wake.

"I told you," Skulker righted himself, dusting off rubble and charred bits of ruined weapons, and strolled over to the boy, "I got a new upgrade, Whelp." He smirked menacingly at Phantom's panicked expression when the ecto-ray that he had been trying to form sparked once and faded to nothing.

"What did you do?" The town's hero growled in a voice that could cut through steel, although this did not seem to faze his opponent who offered no response other than a hearty laugh, "I said what did you do!?"

"From now, ghost-child, until whenever this thing wears off, you'll have no powers. You can't fly, you can't go intangible. In fact, you shouldn't even be awake now, although, I suppose the sedative hasn't kicked in yet…" He mused, smiling proudly at his work, "And before you ask, although the sedative will only knock you out for a few hours, it will be a good four days before your powers begin to… Re-ignite so to speak. Who's the ghost zones greatest hunter now?" He broke off into dark laughter as he anticipated the end of his hunt.

"Oooh! I know the answer to _this_ question!" Phantom giggled and swayed, blinking and shaking his head rapidly in an attempt to clear the fogginess that was settling over his mind. Suddenly his eyes lit up and he face lit up with a smile.

"And what would that be, Whelp?" Skulker snapped, trying to see what the stupid boy could be looking at.

"Not you." He said with a grin. And with that, in the most ungraceful fashion, Phantom crumpled to the ground at the hunter's feet.

* * *

**I have the second part of what was originally a long chapter waiting to be finished, but it switches back to what's happeneing to Maddie so I thought it would make more sense to have them as seperate chapters... Ya know? *Please don't kill me***

**I have a few questions for you guys! (please leave a review responding to them if you have time)**

**1 - Do you want Danny's secret to be revealed at the end of this fic? I am torn between two endings, so let me know.**

**2 - Do you want it to all be in 3rd person? Or did you want it to all be in Maddie's/ Danny's/ multiple POV from the not-next-chapter-but-the-one-after-that on?(already halfway through writing the next chapter)**

**3 - How old do you guys think I am? I'm just curious as to how old you guys think I am based on my writing style... I've never been very good at English (as a sunject) so...**

**I appologise that this chapter was MUCH, MUCH, MUCH shorter than what my usual posts will be. I aim to make each chapter AT LEAST 1,500 words. Also, in case you were wondering, I am also aiming to make this fic 7-10 chapters long and am aiming to have it done by this time next month. *Fingers crossed* As for a sequel, well, that bit's up to you guys! If you have any questions or something is wrong, as per my last chapter, let me know and I'll fix it.**

**There is no cheese. **


	3. Oh Crap

**Hey Guys! I figured you should get a second update because of how short the other chapter was and *BONUS* This one is a more decent length. Still not up to the normal length (due to the double post) but it's better than waiting another week... Right? Again, thanks so much for the response to the other chapter :)**

**I steal cheese, not TV shows, so sadly this still belongs to Butch Hartman (as far as I am aware...)**

* * *

Maddie had just been trying to distract herself from the pain of losing her notes with a retail therapy when she heard the unmistakable sound of a road being blasted through. Running around the corner, her hand flying to her eco-gun that she always kept handy on her hip, she skidded to a halt at the scene in front of her; Phantom and Skulker fighting. Instinctively she began to activate all of the defence mechanisms on her suit and was about to step forward so that she would be seen when she remembered the promise she made to Jazz, _"Promise, that while I'm at the introductory day, you'll try, just for one weekend, not to hunt him. Dad's gone so you can't use him as an excuse. You don't have to help him or even like him. I just want you to try and understand him. Ok? And if in four days when I get back, you still think that he is completely evil, that's fine."_ She stared at the scene unfolding before her, _'There's no harm in watching, right? After all, I'm not hunting him. Just observing from a distance…'_ So she watched, becoming fully consumed in analysing every move the ghosts made. How they moved, what their powers were, their motives (although she was only able to pick up on the motives of Skulker), was all filed into imaginary folders in her head.

Although it wasn't the first time she had seen Phantom fight, it _was_ the first time she hadn't been jumping into the fight in the hopes to capture and/or destroy the spector, so his absolute power and control over the situation at hand surprised her, '_Does he do this often? None of the other ghosts seem to fight each other, so why is Phantom different?'_ She was snapped of her thoughts by a girl yelling out Phantom's name, followed by a silver object being thrown at him. Glinting in the sunlight as he swiftly caught it, she was able to quickly identify it as the Fenton Thermos. _'Where did he get that?! And how did he get it to work…? Wait. Has he been STEALING from us!? How haven't we noticed? We're ghost hunters for God's sake! Unless… JAZZ! She has been helping Phantom this whole time! That's why she's always so defensive of him. She's HELPING him.'_ Glaring ever so slightly at the teen as he threatened Skulker with the thermos, she watched, intrigued, as he allowed Skulker his 'last words' as he put it, although, judging by the fact that Skulker returned time after time again, Maddie figured that the ghost-boy wouldn't actually _destroy_ the ghost. Maybe. Suddenly, a small gasp escaped Maddie's lips as she saw a large bolt of electricity strike him down and winced at the agonised scream he made, _'I thought ghosts couldn't feel pain. That doesn't make any sense! Am I wrong? No… All the other ghosts we caught couldn't feel pain… Unless the more powerful a ghost is, the more human-like they are? That's a thought…'_ Creeping over to a better vantage point, see was able to see Phantoms face twisted in agony as he leant his hands on his knees. _'He looks so human,'_ she realised with shock, _'He looks like a kid.' _Although Maddie always understood that Phantom was a teenager on a superficial level, she had never really considered the thought that _he was just a kid_. The knowledge pressed down on her, _'Someone's child died so young, and Jack and I are always trying to destroy it! It's a ghost, but it's also a child. Can really let people, including myself and my husband, harm a boy no older than my son?' _Her hands clenched into balled fists as she came to a decision. As she stepped out into the open, she saw recognition flicker across the boy's face as she lifted an ecto-gun and aimed it. Before do a single thing, Phantom was on the ground, out cold. She saw the searching eyes of Skulker lock onto her, and before she even had the chance to consciously register her actions, she was advancing towards the mechanical ghost, eco-gun whirring dangerously as it prepared for a shot on its most powerful setting.

Sam and Tucker rushed over to their fallen friend, shaking him, talking to him, trying to get a response, although, there was no such luck. "At least he hasn't changed back," Sam muttered to the boy crouching beside her, "That would be _really_ hard to explain." By this time, all the towns people that had previously been hiding in the stores lining the streets had started to file out of the buildings and make their way over to their motionless, sedated hero laying on the ground. Mutterings could be heard from adults, small sobs from children, a few tried to approach the trio; however they were quickly warned against it by Tucker, "You might want to go back home, people. You're no help here. Mrs Fenton's got this one under control. Shoo!" They shuffled back, only to form a small circle around the three teens some kneeling down, others still standing, silently watching and waiting with teary eyes for what was going to happen next. Paulina suddenly burst through the crowd of people bawling her eyes out, in her accented voice swearing revenge on 'that metal ghost thing' for hurting 'her one and only love', trying to fight her way past Sam and Tucker to her target: Phantom. "Come _on_ people! And Paulina," an indignant yell could be heard from the Hispanic girl as she was pushed back to the fringe of the circle, "He's not _dead_. He's _sedated_. It's not like any of you tried to help him anyways, so why would you care?!" Sam yelled at the small group that had been gathering around them, "Go home. Go back to your lives; carry on as you always do! He'll be turn up tomorrow good as new, as he always does." Her glare could be felt so intensely by every single one of the spectators that they all turned on their heels and left, if for nothing else than to ease her fiery gaze.

"That was too close, dude," Tucker said quietly, a weary expression on his face, "What if he had you-know-whated?" Sam glanced at Skulker, who seemed to be getting the better of Maddie. "To be honest, I think we have bigger issues right now."

"What are we gonna do with Da—Phantom?" Tucker corrected himself, "We can't just leave him here. I mean, we could take him back to my house 'caus he's meant to be spending the next few days with me anyway, but if Mum or Dad finds out," Tucker broke off with a shudder, "I don't want to know what would happen."

"He could stay with me I guess," Suggested Sam, "I mean, if you wanted to come over as well of course…" She ended the sentence with a glare at Tucker, a suggestive smile slowly making its way across his face, "Shut up, Tuck."

"Changing the subject before I get hurt… Maddie has done some pretty bad damage to Skulker… Should we get him with the thermos?"

"Tucker! Why the hell didn't you think of that, I dunno, _FIVE FREAKING MINUTES AGO_?!" Tucker cringed under her wide-eyed, accusing glare.

"Why didn't you?" He asked in a small voice, not wanting to anger the Goth anymore. This seemed to throw her off a bit as she only answered with a very unladylike snort. "_Why didn't you_?" She mimicked in a high pitched voice, "Idiot…" She muttered mostly to herself, "Well? Are you gonna do something with that thought or not?"

"Why do I have to do it!?"

"Fine, wimp," She strode over to the thermos and picked the dented canister up, "Make the _weak_ and _defenceless_ _girl_ do it."

"I will," He said proudly, "And, I get credit for the idea when Danny asks how we took down…" He trailed off into silence at Sam's terrified expression. "Tucker," She stared at the shadow on the ground that had dimmed the suns warm light. Grabbing Tuckers arm she spun them around, only to come face to face with Skulker's evil grin centimeters from their faces.

* * *

***Gasp* I never realized how much fun this whole writing this was... Oh well *draws rainbow* The more you know. **

**Questions for readers time!**

**1. What is your favourite band?**

**2. What country do you live in?**

**3. What is your favourite past-time?**

**My favourite band is probably My Chemical Romance (although there is list a mile long of all the other bands I am into), I live in Australia and my favourite past-time is probably eating or rowing. **

**Anyway, talk soon my little munchkins :)**

**I got 'cha cheeeeeese... EVERYBODY GET DOWN SHE'S GOT SOME CHEESE!**


	4. What the hell is Phantom

**Well hi there! How's your weekend been? Just letting you guys know that I have decided to keep it in ****_3_****_rd_****_ person POV_**** and, in this fic, ****_Danny will not be revealed as Phantom_****. However, if enough of you guys want it, I will write a sequel where he will be revealed continuing off this story. I just agree with some of the people who reviewed when they say that there is a bit of a shortage of acceptance-of-Danny-Phantom-without-them -knowing-he's-Danny-Fenton fics. I am sorry if you wanted it to be a revelation but *shrugs* you will have to deal.**

**Lover chocolate and ice-cream: **

**I live in QLD! And sorry to say this but… We are gonna cream you guys in State of Origin! :D **

**Inviso-Al:**

**Nah. I wish I lived in the USA or UK! Australia is kinda boring (apart from all the deadly animals that can kill you… Like seriously. Do we really need 10 of the most deadly spiders in the world?). I have always wanted to go the USA, but sadly it's never happened L**

**Also, in response to the question that I asked you a week or so ago, I'm 16. I just wanted to see if my writing was up to the standard that I was setting for myself. I have never really written stories before, and certainly no one has read them (I have no feedback and nothing to go off from people other than you guys), so I was kinda getting a feel for how my writing was with that question. **

**I steal cheese, not TV shows, so sadly this still belongs to Butch Hartman (as far as I am aware...)**

**That is always so unnecessary… Oh well.**

**On with the story! **

Maddie blindly stumbled her way out of the cavity her body had made in the plaster wall. One of Skulker's many, many stupid weapons had managed to cuff her with metal clasps to the nearest vertical surface, which luckily happened to be a wall and not a moving car… Or a person. Rubbing her wrists, eyes slowly adjusting to the bright light of the winter sun, her expression slowly turned to dread as she realised what was happening in the centre of road. With a deep breath to prepare herself for what she was about to do, she dropped her now damaged ecto-guns on the ground, activated her wrist-rays, and broke into a sprint.

"Stand down children. Let me take the ghost-child," He smiled evilly, "There is nothing you can do now."

"Piss off, Skulker," Sam threatened wearily, "We aren't going anywhere."

"Yeah! You tell him, Sam!" Receiving a glare from Skulker, Tucker winced and slowly backed away towards the limp body of his friend still lying on the floor.

"You think _you_ will be able to stop _me_, girl?" He chuckled to himself, "Unlikely."

"Maybe I can't _stop_ you but I can try and keep Danny _away_ from you, sure." She folded her arms across her chest and took a defiant stance.

"Kids!" Maddie called, waving her arms around like a mad woman while sprinting over, "You need to get out of here!"

Sam squirmed as she tried to think of an excuse to get Maddie to leave, in case Phantom decided to revert back to his human half, but there was no need. Maddie was no more than ten metres away from them before when her head whipped around from side to side as if franticly searching for something, "Tucker! Where's Danny!?"

"He's back at my place… He's sick! He didn't want to tell you 'caus… Uh… He was scared that you would make him stay home, yeah. We were just coming to pick up Sam from her house because her parents didn't want her to walk alone because they think the town is dangerous… Uh… With all the ghost attacks, so when he saw you turn up, he said that he would meet me back at home… Uh… So, yeah…" His sentence ending open as he looked at Sam for support, "Yeah… My parents are _really_ protective of me." The Goth, who was anything but fragile, rolled her eyes at Tuckers feeble lie, although Maddie, not fully understanding what was going on, took it as attitude towards her parents. "As amusing as this is, humans, I will be taking the ghost-child now," Skulker's cold eyes flashed dangerously, "So move or be fried!"

"_You_ move or be fried," Maddie countered.

"Huh?" Skulker faulted at this, "What kind of a com- Ahhhh!" He yelled as he was shot back into the crater.

"Sam, catch!" With that warning, Maddie threw her still smoking writst-rays at the girl and barked out her orders, "Tucker. You go home and make sure Danny is ok."

"But-"

"No but's. Sam and I will be fine. Go!" She shooed him off, with Tucker mouthing a sorry to Sam over his shoulder, "Sam, cover me. I'll check Phantom to see if we can get him out of here. To use the wrist-ray, there should be a button on the side, though I would prefer it if you just yell if he starts to move."

"Are you sure you're feeling alright, Mrs Fenton?" She looked concernedly at the older woman, "You don't usually like Phantom too much…"

"I know."

"So…?"

"Don't worry about it, Sam, just cover me, ok?"

"Ok…" She said strapping the wrist-ray on, "I'm ready." Maddie just nodded in response.

Double checking that Sam's attention was focused on Skulker, Maddie cautiously moved towards Phantom, _'Don't let your guard down. Always be alert. He's dangerous; never forget that.'_ She repeated to herself over and over as she slowly crouched down next to his head. Up close she was able to admire just how solid his body appeared. She could see each individual strand of hair and he wasn't transparent in the slightest, _'The power that he must contain! How is he able to do this when all of his powers are shorted out? It's incredible… Oh my God.' _Staring at his chest, she was able to see the faint, yet steady, rise and fall that indicated his breathing, _'It's not possible…'_ Checking that Sam was paying attention to Skulker and not herself, she slowly put her ear to his mouth. _'Inhale… Exhale… Inhale… How is he breathing? Why is he breathing? He's dead. It doesn't make any sense! He shouldn't be breathing right now. If it was a habit, it would have stopped when he was sedated. Even if he wasn't aware that he was dead, which he obviously is, and his conscious mind thought that breathing was necessary to survive, the sedative should have taken away all conscious thoughts, making his body focus on doing only what is needed to survive, which in this case apparently is healing.' _Her eyes narrowed as she watched the superficial scratches on his face heal over with ease. She also noted that his jumpsuit-like outfit was able to reknit itself just as his own form was, however she filed this information into a folder in her mind to be thought about later.

_'The only reason things need to breathe is because they need oxygen to reach their brain and other muscles, and that's done by the blood. Ghosts are dead; they don't have a heartbeat so there is no pulse to transport the blood around the body. So therefor; he should not be breathing! Unless…'_ She franticly fiddled with pulling off his white glove, "It's not possible. _It's not possible_." She muttered mostly to herself. Pushing Phantom's unnaturally white hair away, she put two fingers gently to his neck. Sure enough, although weak, there was a steady, slow, pulse beating back against her fingertips. She slowly stood, staring with her mouth open and a terrified expression on her face, "You're _alive_," She whispered, "I don't know how. But you are. Did _you_ know that? You're not actually dead. So, _what are you_?"

"Maddie?" Sam was staring at Maddie with a weary expression on her face, "Are you ok?"

"I don't think so, Sam," Meeting the teenager's eyes with a dazed look in her own. Sam, becoming quite concerned by what had affected Maddie so much, started to approach her, but Maddie put her hand up to stop her. "What's wrong, Mrs Fenton?" Her eyes widening as she thought of all the possibilities, "Is Da-Phantom ok?" She cringed at her slipup, although luckily for her, Maddie didn't seem to be paying much attention.

Unbeknownst to them, in the crater, Skulker had started to stir. He didn't appreciate being shot so many times, especially when he was so close to his goal. _'I've almost got you now, Whelp. Then they'll see. I'm a _hunter_! And I _will_ have your pelt on my wall.'_ Grinning wickedly, he knew what he had to do.

In answer, Maddie just shook her head, deeming herself incapable of putting her thoughts into full, English sentences that would be understood by the teenager. _'Does Jazz know? She must. Or did she just trust him without knowing. No, she helps him. She's a rational girl. She must know. What about Sam and Tucker? What about Danny? Sam and Tucker always seem to be where Phantom is… Actually, come to think about it, they are with the ghost boy a lot. I never see Danny with them, maybe he stays out of it? What _is_ Phantom? Did he inject himself with ectoplasm? No. That doesn't make any sense. If he did that, his body would have just rejected the foreign substance. We've hurt him so many times, what have we been hurting? Is he still a ghost? Are there others?' _While being lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice Skulker's jets slowly flying him out of the crater, until he was walking over to her, "You know, we aren't so different, you and I," Maddie jumped at the sudden interruption of her thoughts, and whipped her head to the left to face him. "Why do you say that?" She scoffed, "I am nothing like you. You're a ghost." She spat the word out with malice.

"Ah but you are. See, we both are hunters. And more importantly, we both want the ghost child for our own individual reasons. We both have our toys – our weapons, and usually their main point of design is to capture or wound the Whelp. We have a common enemy."

"Not anymore."

At that, Skulker raised an eyebrow at that. "What do you mean?" He asked slowly.

She pulled her final weapon out of its holster; the jack-o'-nine tails. "Right now, Skulker, you're the enemy. Phantom's different, I'm not even sure he's a ghost, so until I know more about him, I won't be hunting him for a while."

"Oh? So you know he's different?"

"Yes… Did you?"

"Yes. I am surprised a hunter specialising in ghosts, such as yourself, did not," He raised an eyebrow at that, "Step away from the ghost-child and lower your weapon and I'll tell you." Maddie hesitated, not trusting the mechanical ghost, "If you do this, I promise I won't harm you."

She hesitated again, so intrigued by what the answer could be. Still in a daze, she considered her options, _'Would Phantom tell me the truth? Skulker wouldn't kill Phantom would he? No. I couldn't help phantom regain his powers anyway. The answer… It could change my whole line of research! But he isn't a ghost... Not really, so it would be irrelevant… Right?'_ She took a moment in order to make her voice strong and steady, "No."

"No? NO? I can't believe you can say that. Although I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering you can't even see what is right in front of you, so I can't blame you for being so naive. After all who wouldn't notice tha-" His head twisted around just in time to be hit square in his mechanical face with a blast from the wrist-ray.

"Mrs Fenton!" Sam yelled, interrupting Skulker's sentence, "Are you ok?"

Maddie frowned slightly, "I wanted to hear what he was going to say."

Sam's eyes widened comically, "But he's a ghost! An evil one! Don't listen to him!"

Maddie furrowed her brows in concentration, an internal battle raging on in her head, _But Phantom wouldn't tell me the truth! Skulker might... Skulker might also hurt him though! But ghost's don't feel pain. He might not be a ghost! What if he is? What if he _isn't?_ He's not human. But what is he? It doesn't matter. Sam's right; I promised Jazz that I wouldn't hunt him. Jazz would be furious if she found out… But I wouldn't be the one hunting him. Can I do that to Jazz? Fine. I can get answers later. Right now, I'll protect him.' _

"You can't take Phantom, Skulker. Go pick on the Box Ghost!" Sam yelled.

Maddie stepped back in front of the limp form of the whatever-he-was and pulled out her jack-o'-nine tails again, facing Skulker, "Leave now."

"Why the change in sides, Maddie? What did Phantom do to make you finally trust him, protect him even. No matter, I won't leave. Not without my prize. And if you won't step away from him, you can join him. It makes no difference to me." He grinned evilly and raised his metal arm. Just as he pressed a button on his suit, Sam managed to fire a well-aimed shot at his neck, throwing his balance off. An indignant yell could be heard from the ghost as he spun around to face her, forgetting about his new weapon that he had activated. For Maddie, everything happened in slow motion. A blue beam of light shot out from the armour in his suit and formed a large, see-through, blue box around Sam.

"Crap. That wasn't meant to happen…" Before Maddie could notice, he quickly blasted the weapon that she had previously been holding through a window. "Oh well. Change of plan," He grinned evilly, "Tell the ghost-child that if he knows what's good for him, he will surrender himself to me to save his stupid little girlfriend." He grinned at Maddie, "He has four days or she is mine forever."

"He won't fall for it, Skulker!" Sam yelled through the glowing box.

"Of course not! The whelp may be stupid but he's not an idiot. He will know it's a trap, but he'll come anyway to save his girlfriend," He spat the word out, "He's nothing if not loyal and overprotective. Always the hero," Skulker tutted while shaking his tongue, "And look where that got him."

"Then why bother taking Sam? She didn't do anything! She's just a _child_. _Let her go_!" Maddie pleaded.

"No, she will come with me. It makes the hunt more interesting anyway," He chuckled darkly, "To see the ghost-child beg and plead for me to take him, I would do anything to see that, and now," He smiled menacingly at the trapped girl, "_Now_, I won't have to. So, if you don't mind me, I'll be off. Remember: _before_ the four days are up. And tell him no funny business. If he tries to trick me or ambush me in any way," He pointed to Sam, silent tears sliding down her face as she tried to be strong, and made a slitting motion across his neck, "Got it?" Maddie silently nodded her head, "Good." He strolled over to the cage, "See you next time, human." And with that bid of farewell, the cage and mechanical ghost disappeared from Maddie's sight.

"Oh God… Sam."

**So that was it! Hope you enjoyed J I am ****_finally_**** done with setting the scene and can get on to the fun stuff like awkward Phantom-Maddie talks. YAY! Anyway, PLEASE let me know what you think. Your comments mean the world! I am much happier with the length of this one but I am worried the characters are a bit OOC. **

**Question time!**

**1. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?**

**For me, England. I have been there and loved it to death.**

**2. What animal do you think represents you best?**

**I have no idea… Maybe a lion? Meh. I hate that question. Good luck.**

**3. What's your favourite TV show, movie or YouTuber?**

**Favourite show: Sherlock or Arrow**

**Movie: World War Z (If you haven't seen it, I recommend it but it's kinda scary. Really well made. AMAZING)**

**YouTuber: Danisnotonfire, AmazingPhil, KickthePJ or EmmaBlackery (plus lots of others)**

**Ciao for now,**

**iWant, therefore iSteal (your cheese).**


	5. Damage Control

**Woo! Another update. As of this chapter, we've gotten to 10,000 words and 2,200 views by more than 1000 different people! Thank you all so much for the follows, favourites, reviews and support J It means a lot that you take the time to let me know what you think. To be honest, I was only planning on this story being 15,000 words so… That's definitely not going to happen.**

**STOP. IMPORTANT NOTICE: **

**There will be swearing in this fic (there already has been, but just in case…). I don't believe that the characters wouldn't swear, especially in situations like this. I will try not to put it in unnecessarily, but again, it's unlikely that they ****_wouldn't_**** swear. So… Sorry (but not really).**

**I'm keeping this top A/N reasonably short but there's important stuff down the bottom.**

**Toodles! *waves and winks seductively***

**I STEAL CHEESE. NOT TV SHOWS. THIS SHOW (sadly) STILL BELONGS TO BUCH HARTMAN... AS FAR AS I KNOW... 'KAY? Okay.**

* * *

"Shit. Shit, shit, _shit_! Sam's been taken by an evil ghost. _Sam's been taken by an evil ghost._" Her hands gripped her face as she stared at Phantom, "Wake up! Go save her! This is all your fault anyway! All. Your. Fault…" Dropping to her knees beside him, she shut her eyes and took a deep breath to focus herself, _'What's Danny going to think? You just let his crush be taken away by an evil ghost! Stupid! Right. First thing's first: Damage control…' _Pulling out her phone, she found Tucker's number that she had for whenever Danny lost, forgot, or broke his own.

"Mrs F? Is everything alright? Are you all ok?"

"I am, Phantom's… The same as he was when you left… And Sam, well, please tell me you're not home yet, Tucker."

"Uh… No I'm not… Why?"

"Sam was taken by Skulker."

"What!?"

"I know! I'm sorry! He was trying to trap Phantom in a cage, and then Sam shot him, and then he ended up getting her, andIneedtogetherback!" She was starting to get a bit hysteric now.

"It's ok, Mrs F. Don't freak. Having a breakdown doesn't help anyone." Tucker tried to awkwardly sooth, "Now, if you don't mind me asking, I doubt you called just to tell me that, so why'd you call? Is there something you need?"

"The reason why I wanted to talk to you before you got home is because, yes, I need your help. Was Sam meant to be staying with you this weekend?"

"Yeah…?"

"Good. Firstly, don't tell Danny or Sam's parents about any of this. Scratch that. Don't tell _anyone_ about this. Tell Danny that Sam was sick and went home or something… I don't know. Make it up! I don't care. And as for her parents, just pretend she's still there with you."

"Can do."

"Secondly, make sure Danny stays with you for the next few days just like planned, ok?"

"Sure… Any particular reason?"

"I'll be working on ways to save Sam. I can't have him noticing and asking questions."

"In that case, done."

"Thirdly, this one is very important, don't let Danny try to contact her. Ok?"

"Ok. I'll try my best."

"Thanks, Tucker. I'll get Sam back somehow, I promise."

"I know you will. Oh and Mrs F?"

"Yes, Tucker?"

"I'm guessing you don't want me to say you have Phantom at your place for the next few days either. Am I right?" She could hear his smirk in his voice.

"And you get C's in school how?"

"Hey. Take it up with my teachers, not me."

"Thank you so much, Tucker. I owe you."

"Good luck. And try to be nice to Phantom, for me?"

"Believe it or not, you're not the first person to have said that to me today," She sighed, "But, I think there is a bit more to Phantom than you know, than anyone knows."

"Maybe." He said is as a statement, not question, not doubting in anyway, as if he had figured that out for himself already, "Bye, Mrs F."

"Goodbye, Tucker." She said, absentmindedly snapping her phone shut. Phantom's superficial wounds were all healed now, however the healing process seemed to be slowing down on the larger cuts. Now that she was really focused on looking for injuries, she could see that his arm was positioned under his body at an unnatural angle, possibly broken or dislocated.

_'Ghosts can't break bones because they don't have them. Right. He's not a ghost.' _Looking at him lying sprawled on the ground, she felt way in over her head,_ 'What am I going to do with you?'_

* * *

Phantom was heavier than she expected. Much heavier. He was still no more than half the weight of what would be expected of him if he were fully human, however, he was at least double the weight of what he should have been if he was a ghost. Having no bone density, no internal organs and, for the most part, no actual solid form meant that ghosts were usually very, very light. The larger, more complex ghosts tended weigh more due to the greater detail that they usually retained from their human body, but they certainly did not weight this much!

She shook her head slowly, "Why do I have the feeling that all these abnormalities are connected somehow?" She said, her voice flat.

After carefully carrying the ghost boy as over to the spare GAV which was parked around the corner from when she had been shopping (Jack had taken the new and improved one to show off to his ghost hunter friends and Jazz had taken the other car, so Maddie was left with the old bulky prototype), she stared at the ghost containment cell, _'He's sedated. He's sedated _and_ his powers are shorted out. Oh well, I guess you can never be too careful…'_ After sliding him and checking and double checking the locks she sat in the front seat frowning in the review mirror.

"What are you doing, Maddie?" She asked herself out loud, rubbing her temples with her eyes closed, "You are helping the person… Maybe not person… Entity? Better… You are helping the _entity_ you swore you would destroy at _any chance_. Now's your chance! Why help him? He can't harm you now. You can get all the answers you want by dissecting him, or forcing him to tell you the truth. You think he's going to offer to give up secrets on ghosts and the ghost zone sipping a cup of tea on the couch? Of course not!

He isn't human. He isn't polite, he doesn't have manners, morals or ethics. He could kill you if that's he wanted and he probably wouldn't feel a thing. Not only could he hurt you though, he could hurt your family too. Are you really going to risk their lives as well as your own just because you think it's what's '_right' _because_, _for whatever _bullshit_ reason,_ you trust him_?" She breathed deeply to stop herself from having a mental breakdown, and considered her options, "Yep." She said, popping the 'p', "Alright then. Let's get this over with before I change my mind."

* * *

Getting him in the containment chamber may have been simple enough, however getting Phantom out of it was different story altogether. Correction, it would have been simple enough if she hadn't been trying to hide the whole thing from her overly observant neighbours. The lady behind her had not so long ago reported them to the GIW on accounts of 'suspicious behaviour', that being at least their third visit from the GIW that year. Needless to say, she didn't feel too kindly towards the disapproving elderly lady anymore. So instead of just taking the ghost boy out of the case, she had to lug the whole entire containment chamber out of the GAV. If she picked him up and carried him into the house she would arouse suspicion, and that's not really something that she wanted to do, especially when she would have the town's protector bleeding and unconscious in her house. _'Great now I'm thinking of him as the town protector,'_ She sighed, _'Ok. Three more steps to go.'_ Grunting as she slid the heavy case horizontally up the final few stairs, she turned around to see Mrs Pearson's eyes glaring at her through the blinds, "Hi, Mrs Pearson!" She said in the most painfully cheerful voice she could muster. Instead of a response, the eyes disappeared and the blinds snapped shut again, "Hope you choke on a brownie." She ground out through her teeth, glaring at her house.

_'I really should have thought this through.'_ She thought while staring at the containment chamber that was now sitting on her kitchen floor, _'Now what? Where do I put him? I can't put him in the lab, the ghost portal and weapons are down there. Also, I don't want him to freak out when he wakes up. Having an angry ghost in your house that you're trying to make an understanding with is not the best thing. A ghost hunter's basement might not be the most welcoming sight to wake up to when you're wounded and defenceless. Well, maybe not defenceless…'_ Maddie's eyes wandered around the room as she thought of the possible locations for the teen, _'Danny's room? I can't really watch him upstairs, and I'd rather keep my eye on him. The couch it is then.'_ She grimaced, _'I should really replace my weapons before I get him out though... Just in case.'_ Frowning at the six inch thick, glass hemispherical-cylinder currently containing Phantom, she looked for something to guarantee the containment of its occupant while she was gone.

Grabbing the dining chairs and a couple of pots, she formed a carefully constructed pile on top of the release door. Looking back on her work, she realised the precariously balanced mound wouldn't even stop her from getting out, let alone Phantom. Glancing at the pots she added to herself, _'But on the bright side, if he does wake up and get out, I'll certainly be able to hear it!'_ Looking around awkwardly, she tried to find what else she could use to stop the… thing from getting out that was in the kitchen, _'Not much. Not much at all. I really should be prepared for these situations! I am a ghost hunter for crying out loud!'_ A little voice in the back of her head added, _'Yeah _hunter_ not _harbourer_.'_ Rolling her eyes, she walked so she was directly in front on the case, _'Here goes nothing…'_

"Um… I'm not sure if you're awake right now to hear me, Phantom, but if you could just stay right here and _not_ try to break out, that would be great," Spinning on her heal Maddie walked over to the doorway before adding, "Stay. _Stay_. _STAY_." She waved both her arms around in what was meant to resemble the command for a dog, although Phantom had no way of seeing it, and dashed out of the room as fast as she could.

As Maddie trudged down the stairs that led to the Lab she couldn't help but wonder what she would have to do to make Phantom help her, _'What could I offer him that would be of some worth? I could say we would have a truce, but it doesn't seem like us hunting Phantom has ever bothered him too much. I wonder why? Maybe it's because he thought that we wouldn't ever catch him. I mean even the Red Huntress hasn't caught him yet… Has she? What could I possibly offer him in return for his assistance? We've never given him a reason to trust us and I need his help. But… Skulker seemed awfully sure that he would offer himself up to trade places with Sam. Why? I'll ask him about that later if he doesn't run off first, which is what I would probably do… _

_Ugh! Why is Phantom the only one who can save her! I guess I could go and attempt to blast her out… But Skulker wanted Phantom in return! Phantom needs to give his freedom for hers. I can't let him do that though, can I?' _Maddie's expression darkened, _'She's a human. He's not. Yes. I can let him do that. Why wouldn't I? After all, he can take care of himself… Or not. He could just get blasted to pieces. He is the enemy after all. Why would I care?'_ Pushing her bothersome thoughts to the back of her mind, she grabbed whatever she could from the lab."Ok. So first aid kit? Check. Scalpel, gauze, disinfectant? Check. Surgical needles and thread? Check. What else…" She muttered to herself, "Duh! Weapons." Grabbing the Spector Deflector, the Wraith Wrangler, a couple of ecto-guns and two new wrist-rays, she cautiously made her way back up the stairs, ecto-guns first.

If Maddie was hoping to see Phantom back to health, sitting at her kitchen table, with that annoyingly cocky grin of his plastered on his face, she would have been bitterly disappointed. Her tower of furniture which looked like it had been made by a poltergeist was still as she left it and as far as she could tell, Phantom was still blissfully unconscious in the chamber, "When is this thing going to wear off!? C'mon Phantom! We have a girl to rescue, a damsel in distress! Well ok, maybe Sam might not be described as a damsel… But you get what I mean. Wake up! We need you… I need you," She kicked the container, "And you know what? If you help me," She corrected herself, "Help us, I might just consider you as the good guy that you seem to desperately want to convince the town you are." She waited for a response and spat out a bitter laugh at the lack of it, "Look at me. Finally getting my chance to destroy you and now I'm being forced to help you and work with you." She turned to stare out the window, lost in her thoughts.

"Well you're not exactly being forced, but it certainly would be a good idea work with me, in _my_ opinion. And while you're at it, I think getting me out of this thing would be a good idea too, but you know, that's just me. "

_'He's awake.'_

* * *

**Hello again. I liked that chapter. You know how you just enjoy writing some chapters? Well, that wasn't one of them. But I think it turned out ok.**

**Well in the next chapter we can finALLY HAVE MADDY-PHANTOM BONDING! I forgot that I had the whole Tucker thing to sort out last chapter, so I kinda lied to you… Not on purpose though!**

**Ok. Well in…. Six days from today, I am going away for five days! **

***Aw, good for you TOWSYC***

**Thanks J But this DOES mean that I won't be able to update while I'm away.**

***But why? We'll miss you TOWSYC!***

**I know, I know. I am going to try and pump out at least another two chapters before I leave, but when I get back, school is starting again. **

***Boooooooo!***

**I know, right? During school term, I am guessing I will only be writing about one and a half chapters a week. SOOOOO… Starting not next Tuesday, but Tuesday the 9****th**** (of July) I will TRY to post every Sunday night. Any bonus chapters will be posted as a write them. I'm really sorry! Trust me, if I could spend all day every day writing, I would.**

**ALSO:**

***** PLEASE REVIEW IF FOR NOTHING ELSE THAN TO LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT A SEQUEL*****

**There are ****_three different responses you can say_****. If you say ****_"pink llamas"_**** it means you ****_do_**** want a sequel, but if you say ****_"blue octopus"_**** it means you ****_don't_****. ****_"Yellow bathtub"_**** means either 'I don't care', 'I don't know', 'Maybe… We'll see how this one goes first' , 'Your story sucks balls and you smell like eggs' or "Whatever you want yourself, O' amazing writer God. I am your humble servant. I will steal cheese whenever you wish and take the blame because your story is amazing' (If you say the third response, please specify).**

**This is so I know if I have to resolve everything or just some things or I need to start dropping hints about a greater plot or more complex ideas to be solved in the sequel yada, yada, yada. Otherwise, it will just be a pointless add-on and if I can help it, I want to avoid that as much as possible. Keep the flow and all that, ya know? **

**~Flow~ **

**I don't even know anymore…**

**Also. I have been reading some old stories that people posted in like… 2011? Anyway. Basically, I am starting to notice that some people drag on too much about situations or their stories are progressing a bit slowly for me and then some people barely touch on the really important stuff and you don't get to really be involved with the characters. So if you have noticed this, please tell me! Seriously. You don't even have to be nice about it. It worries me that I haven't had a really negative comment.**

**QUESTION TIME:**

**1. If you could be anyone, who would you be? **

**Me. I have a nice group of friends and very small but loving family. We may not be mega rich or famous** **or anything like that, and my life might not be as 'perfect' as other people's, but in my opinion, perfect is boring. Hardships and struggles are what define people. I like to think that people can create themselves. They can create their own opportunities in life and then what they do with those choices is up to them. You wanna be a famous fashion designer? Someone has to do it. Why can't it be you? **

**2. Do you think ghosts and the paranormal actually exist or are they just fiction?**

**Yep. No doubt in my mind. Of course, not the kind in the show. Just spirits who are stuck because of unfinished business or a traumatic experience and either do or don't realize that you're there too. Some are nice about it, some aren't (however, not sure about you, but I in no way believe that they can shoot ectoplasmic blasts from their hands and I don't think any would be able to control (as in make them shoot stuff, not like poltergeists) boxes either... Or the weather... Or have a suit made of metal... Seriously were the creators of Danny Phantom high?). **

**3. Mandarin (short 'i' sound – think 'dinner') or mandarin (long 'ee' sound – think ski)**

**It's 'mandarin' not 'mandarine'. Short 'i' sound all the way!**

**Until next time,**

**TOWSYC**

**TASTE THE FREAKING CHEESEBOW! *pegs cheese at you* Better.**


	6. Do any of you guys actually read this?

**Hai. **

**I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack…**

**NicoCheesediPizzaAngelo – Yay for Aussies! We awesome people from down under need to start a club, seriously. There are sooooo many of us! I was really surpised. Luckyyyyyyy I love Tassie, I recently went there on a holiday and it was absolutely stunning. It's waaaaay better than the mainland.**

**PoetofMercury – Thanks for the review! I agree with you on the whole paranormal stuff. I think we are only just starting to become aware of what our universe holds thanks to technology. We're still discovering new species of plants and animals every day, so why not paranormal stuff too? **

**I've kept you waiting long enough so… On with the story!**

**Last time…**

**I STEAL CHEESE. NOT TV SHOWS. THIS SHOW (sadly) STILL BELONGS TO BUTCH HARTMAN... AS FAR AS I KNOW... 'KAY? Okay.**

* * *

_"Look at me. Finally getting my chance to destroy you and now I'm being forced to help you and work with you." She turned to stare out the window, lost in her thoughts._

_"Well you're not exactly being forced, but it certainly would be a good idea work with me, in my opinion. And while you're at it, I think getting me out of this thing would be a good idea too, but you know, that's just me. "_

**_'He's awake.'_**

* * *

"Oh good. You're up." Maddie tried to say as nonchalantly as possible however her voice cracked halfway through, giving away her nervousness, "How's your head?" She wanted to see if she could find out exactly what drug the ghostly hunter had used in case she could reverse it. Of course she wouldn't reverse it in any other circumstance but Samantha, uhem, Sam, needed to be freed so…

"I feel like I have a hangover," he groaned, "Not that I have ever drunk alcohol before." He finished quickly.

_'Great.'_ She thought bitterly_, 'What a help he is.'_ Sighing, she moved on to the next most important thing; safety check. Actually, it's probably more of a 'can that evil ghost kill me' check, but you get the point. "Can you phase out of that?"

Phantom looked at her like she had three heads, "I _could_… If my powers hadn't been shorted out! You should know that! You were _there_. Anyway, if this thing," He gestured to the case, "Does what it's meant to, it'll shock me."

Maddie narrowed her eyes at him, "How did you know that?"

"Ah ha! It _WILL_ shock me. To be honest, most of your things shock ghosts. So it was kinda a lucky guess. Actually, you can't even call that a lucky guess anymore. These days, I just assume it'll happen and if it doesn't well… Surprise!"

She shook her head incredulously at his explanation, "I see your point. But… Just humour me."

He sighed, "Here goes nothing." After a few seconds he sighed and looked at Maddie, "Nope."

"Um… Please?" Maddie cringed despite herself.

"No," Phantom rolled his eyes, "'Nope' as in 'Nope, it didn't work'."

"Oh," She frowned, "Right then," She blinked as if she only just occurred to her that he was still trapped inside the containment cell, "I guess I should let you out of that."

"Just a thought." The ghostly teen shrugged, well, as much as you can shrug lying down horizontally in a glass case with a possibly dislocated shoulder.

"Fine," She said wearily, "But if you try anything…" She trailed off, grapping her ecto-gun, twirling it expertly and pointing it at the case. Her unfinished threat, however, did not have the desired effect of scaring Phantom, instead, he just started laughing.

"You've got, _how many_ weapons on you? And you are worried that with no powers at all and weapon-less, _I_ am going to hurt _you_? Something that I don't do even when I have my powers." He shook his head in disbelief, "When are you going to realise that have never and will never hurt you or anyone else. Intentionally. _Ever._" Maddie swore his intense gaze was boring holes through her skull.

_'What a strange thing to say… Why would he say that? Why does he care what I think? Doesn't he _like_ people knowing that he is evil," _Maddie corrected herself_, "Might be evil? Every other ghost has…'_ Maddie's brow furrowed as she forced herself to not accept what Phantom had said, "If, by the end of these next few days, that statement remains true, I might just believe you." Her tone was clipped and her expression taut.

He sighed and smiled slightly, "Well. It's a start, I guess."

* * *

Slowly un-piling the precarious tower of pots and pans over his chamber, she allowed herself to think about the best way to protect herself while releasing Phantom out of his case, _'Keep between the two exits, that way, if he goes back on his word and tries to attack you, you can escape. Also if he tries to escape, you won't get in his way. But he'll get away…' _A small voice in the back of Maddie's mind said,_ 'Well, if he doesn't want to help, he doesn't want to help.'_

"Ok Phantom. I am going to unlock this case in a second, but you aren't going to open it until I say. Then, you'll stand up to this side," She gestured to the left side of the case, "Put your hands on your head, and slowly step back until your back is touching the wall."

"What did I just say about trusting me?"

"Well I'm not making you stand in a corner facing the wall, am I?" She raised an eyebrow, "You won't be getting out of that case until you agree to my terms."

"Fine. I'll look stupid though…" He grumbled.

She snorted, "You were definitely a teenager when you… Died, weren't you?" She'd decided that it would be a better idea to mention that she knew he wasn't actually a ghost (probably) later. She wanted answers, and if she brought that subject up too early, she might not get them.

Phantom noticed the slight pause in her sentence and an unreadable expression crossed his face, "What makes you say that?"

"You've still got the whole attitude thing. Now…" Maddie bent down and cautiously began to undo the locks. Phantom, seemingly getting irritated at her slow pace, sighed and closed his eyes. Seeing this, Maddie froze on the lock she was currently undoing as if she didn't quite know how to react, _'He's so human like, so comfortable having humans around him, having _me_ around him. I'm a ghost hunter, I have weapons, and he's trapped in my house without powers… In a case! Any other ghost would be terrified, but he's sleeping? Why? I don't understand you…'_

As if sensing her hesitation, he opened his left eye just a fraction, "You know, if I was going to attack you while you were doing that, I would attack you while you were doing that. It wouldn't make _any_ difference how fast you were undoing them."

Maddie seemed to mull over what he said in her brain while unlocking the rest of the locks, in doing so she did speed up a fair amount. Once all the locks were unlocked, she slowly backed away and locked the Spector Deflector around her waist, never taking her eyes off the ghost boy, and got in a defensive stance.

"Are you done?" The teen asked lazily opening his eyes, "Oh good. You are." He narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly, "Why are you wearing the Spector Deflector?" He asked in a patronising voice.

Maddie's eyes narrowed, "How do you know what it's called?"

"Uh… I've heard you holding it up and yelling the name out a couple of times," He waved it off, "But that's not the point."

"Well, how do I know that you weren't lying before when you said you didn't have your powers?"

He did his oh-so-famous smirk, "Uh because I'm not crispy?"

She rolled her eyes, "What if you hadn't actually been trying to phase out of it? Anyway. I don't see why this bothers you if you weren't trying to attack me."

"It doesn't _bother_ me."

"Well what doe-"

Phantom held up his hand and raised his eyebrows, "How about we save the questions for when I'm actually out of this thing?"

She raised an eyebrow, "_We_ save the questions?"

"Well yeah. You're not the only one who has questions."

_'What could he possibly want to ask me?' _She thought, although she managed to restrain herself from asking him herself. "Alright, ghost kid. Do exactly as I said."

Phantom wiggled the fingers on both of his hands, testing the extent of his injuries. Wincing slightly, he pushed the door of the chamber open with his right arm, his left hanging limply by his side as he struggled to stand. Gingerly shifting his full weight to his left leg, he slowly straightened himself so that he was standing at his full height. Although the teen tried to stand as strongly and powerfully as he could, the pain that he was suffering due to his multiple injuries was evident to Maddie through the cheeky glint in his eyes being replaced by a glassy, vacant one .

After a few seconds of gathering himself so he wouldn't scream or collapse, Phantom was able to speak. "As much as I would love to put my hands behind my head," He ground out through his teeth, "I'm in enough pain right now. Please don't make me. I'm not going to hurt you," He broke off suddenly into a fit of coughing. Unable to lift either of his hands up far enough to cover his mouth, ectoplasmic drops spattered onto the kitchen tiles. His eyes widened at the sight, "I really… Can't do anything."

The ghost kid was now shaking with the effort of holding himself upright and it seemed to Maddie like his body was about to give in. _'If he was human, I know he isn't, but hypothetically speaking, the symptoms that he shows indicate that his body would be shutting down and going into shock. He would, if he were human, most likely go into a light coma without proper medical attention soon.'_

She quickly did a once over of his condition to confirm the pained expression on the teens face. _'Blow to the head from falling when unconscious, severe burns up arms and torso from electrocution… I was right! That's definitely a severely dislocated shoulder, and a badly sprained or possibly fractured ankle…'_ She listed, her eyes scanning his body, _'But there's something else, isn't there. You coughed up blood… Ectoplasm, Maddie. He's not human.'_ She mentally scolded herself, _'But the most likely cause of that would be a punctured lung but ghosts don't have…' _She sighed when she realised,_ 'Of course. Not a ghost. I'll ask him about it later. _

_All the injuries separately would be painful. But together? I am surprised he can stand… Oh for God's sake, Maddie. Just help him.'_

* * *

It had been a mere five seconds since the injured teen had asked the question, however it was starting to feel like hours to Phantom. Watching his own mother look at him in the same way you would stare at an injured bear was heart breaking to say the least. The adrenalin from the previous battle and waking up in a glass case in his house with his mum threatening him several times had almost completely worn off and the pain had certainly started to set in. There was still a big chance that Maddie would either shoot him or hand him over to Skulker while he was still injured. To be honest, he wouldn't stand a chance right now.

Starting to shake, he tried to stand tall until an answer was provided, but his resolve was starting to fail. Just as the black spots started to invade his vision and his muscles began to give way, he saw his mother rush towards him and two sturdy arms lift him off the ground, bridal-style. Flailing weakly against her grip, he tried to stand again, "I'llbefinepummedownmum." He slurred as he franticly attempted to escape. Slowly walking backwards until his back was touching the wall, he moved his good arm (the one he could actually move) so it was raised in front of his face as the ghost hunter advanced towards him. At that stage in his delirium, the sharp movement of his arm was painful enough to finally make the teen pass out, with Maddie just managing to catch his dead weight before it hit the floor.

"Sleep, Phantom. You're safe now."

**_'Mum?'_**

* * *

**Hay hay hay! **

**How ya doin'? Sorry that this took longer than expected. I had to re-write it because I don't think I got it right the first time. I still am not 100% happy with it, but it's better than before. I would have spent more time on it, but I felt you should have ****_something_**** before I go away. Anyway, you will hear more from me when I get back! But for now, I leave you with some qustions:**

**1. What kind of fics do you like best? **

**I prefer ones that either stick to the original story line, or go completely off in an AU. If it is an AU fic, for me, the personalities ****_have_**** to stay the same! Otherwise it's just like you're using the names and appearances, but they aren't the actual characters at all. I don't ****_love_**** cross-overs, but if they are well written and the author makes the characters mash together cohesively, I think they can be great.**

**2. What ships do you ship?**

**Amethyst ocean, Phan, KicktheSticks, Cherimon, Neribedtime, Johnlock and many, ****_many _****more.**

**3. What's your OTP?**

**Can't choose. Probably Johnlock or Phan**

**Thanks so much to all those people who are reviewing! It means a lot. Feel free to ask me if you guys have any questions :)**

**See you next week.**

**XOXO**

**TOWSYC**

**Soon there will be 2 kinds of people. Those who eat food, and those who eat cheese ~**


	7. I could admit to murder up here

**Hi there! It feels like it's been FOREVER since I last updated. I am posting this one early, but there might be another one this weekend too! J**

**shin obin: I'm sure glad you asked! It's a type of fruit. It kinda looks like a pink tomato, except the skin is hard, similar to a pomegranate. It's tastes kinda like a sour raspberry. **

**Rainosa: Hahaha thanks :P For me, I think in Maddie's mind, the shocks work on a different level. It makes them actually deteriorate molecularly (which of course wouldn't be fun) however, to her, most ghosts wouldn't feel pain as in "Ouch my nerve can feel that something is not ok with my hand because it's been shot and now it's sending signals to my brain saying that this hurts". That might be explained a bit more later on in the story. Not sure if that clarifies anything or not but... I tried! **

**Ravenclaw125: I love how you clarified that! Don't worry. I got what you meant :P**

**TerraOfLight: Why thank you! I can't believe that people actually voluntarily want to read what I have written! You guys are awesome :D (Especially you)**

**Inviso-Al: And so it begins! Do you have any ideas for the name? I can't think of any good puns that go with the word Aussie and... Well anything Australian to be honest.**

**Grey-Skye-eyes: Way-hay! You're the first person to have seen that! I was patiently waiting for someone to notice... I will probably start doing that every chapter and see how long it takes people notice :P I like Click Five too! What your favourite song of theirs? Mine's 'I'm Getting Over You'. It's just fun to sing to :P Well, I hate to be cheesist (not really), but I do enjoy a good buffalo mozzarella or parmazan, but then the traditional cheddar or cream cheese is pretty damn tasty too. Hope you continue to review (and thanks for answering the questions)!**

**'Kay bye. I'll see you at the end!**

**I think by now you know that I don't own Danny Phantom so... Yeah. I don't. That disclaimer applies for the rest of the story because I really can't be bothered copying and pasting it again (I know I'm lazy. Don't judge me.)**

* * *

Starting to shake, he tried to stand tall until an answer was provided, but his resolve was starting to fail. Just as the black spots started to invade his vision and his muscles began to give way, he saw his mother rush towards him and two sturdy arms lift him off the ground, bridal-style. Flailing weakly against her grip, he tried to stand again, "I'llbefinepummedownmum." He slurred as he franticly attempted to escape. Slowly walking backwards until his back was touching the wall, he moved his good arm (the one he could actually move) so it was raised in front of his face as the ghost hunter advanced towards him. At that stage in his delirium, the sharp movement of his arm was painful enough to finally make the teen pass out, with Maddie just managing to catch his dead weight before it hit the floor.

"Sleep, Phantom. You're safe now."

_**'Mum?'**_

* * *

That night was one of the most exhausting in Maddie's life – and she's a scientist. After carefully carrying Phantom to the living room couch, she set about fixing the injuries that she could while trying not to let her brain fully process all of the new and weird things that had happened that day. She cleaned the teen's head wound and put a large elastoplasts bandage over the profusely bleeding and messy gash that reached from the hair line above his right eye, to part way through his unnaturally white right eyebrow. She assessed his burns, cleaning, treating and bandaging them as best she could without removing his suit, figuring she should wait until he's at least semi-conscious before doing so. After dealing with all of the serious superficial injuries, she moved to deal with the more difficult. Not game enough to deal with repositioning the ghostly teen's dislocated shoulder, she quickly moved to remove his boots, properly assessing his wounded ankle and quickly determined it as a severe sprain, although a fracture may have been present before his body started to heal itself. After securely strapping his ankle and returning with some ice for the sprain, she realised that she didn't quite know how to proceed with the prospect of his fractured ribs without waking him from his injury induced unconsciousness, so instead she fussed with pillows and blankets (although the blankets may or may not have been unnecessary) trying to make him a little more comfortable upon waking.

As she was halfway through microwaving one of the many frozen meals she left for the kids in case of an emergency ghost attack at dinner time, she began to feel uncomfortable with the uneasy silence that had settled over the room. Maybe it was paranoia heightening her senses, or maybe it was the fact that not a single noise could be heard from the lamp lit streets outside, but Maddie could hear her own heartbeat in her ears and every movement felt as loud as a thunderclap. To settle her nerves and ease her mind, she grabbed her still hot meal from the microwave and carefully eased her way into the seat adjacent to Phantom with a crappy magazine and turned the T.V. on low to Dr Phil. _'Why did I give him a blanket? He shouldn't be able to feel the cold. Doesn't he have ice powers? He's not a person so he doesn't need pillows either. Actually, I used to do this with Danny when he was little... I'm fussing over him like he's my own child! Maybe it's because I can't fuss over Danny anymore... Even if I wanted to he would probably just shrug me off like always.' She thought, absent mindedly staring at the ghost boy._

_'Why has he drifted away so much? I understand that he's never understood our life choices in terms of careers... He seems so embarrassed about it all. Jazz at least seems to be taking an interest in the new weapons and equipment that we're designing. When Jazz started to accept it, I thought Danny would to. He's always been an accepting person, albeit a bit naive, and, apart from typical teenage moodiness, had always seemed to think about the glass being half full and look on the bright side of things. He was a happy kid, although now...' _She sighed,_ 'Now I don't know what he's thinking.' _

Looking over to where Phantom slept, battered and bruised she couldn't help but recognise just how defenceless, week and well, almost normal he looked. Apart from the injuries, the jumpsuit and the slight shining aura that all ghosts seemed to have, at that moment, he could have passed for a normal teenage boy. Almost._ 'Do your parents know that you're still around? They must. How many kids have hair that white? They would have to know... Wouldn't they?' _She reached over and twiddled a strand of his hair between her thumb and forefinger,_ 'So young, and yet, you choose to stay. What unfinished business could you have as a fifteen year old boy? To finish high school? It's not right. He does doesn't fit in with our research on ghostly attachments, hauntings, and he doesn't even entirely fit the research gathered on obsessions either! His obsession... His is _obviously_ protecting the town, but he couldn't have been that protective of Amity when he was alive, right? That's what's weird... Well. Among other things...' _She groaned in frustration,_ 'I need answers! Wake uuuuuuuuuuuuuup. The sooner you wake up, the sooner we can plan how to go ahead with this. The sooner we plan, the sooner we can rescue Sam... Sam.' _A small crease formed on her forehead as she struggled to remember something that the ghost called Skulker had said that she had filed away for later inspection... Something about Sam and the ghost boy..._ 'Why would Skulker think that Phantom, a teenage ghost-thing, would be willing to sacrifice his own afterlife for a girl he may or may not know?' _She gave a small smile as she found the memory that she had been looking for.

* * *

_"Why the change in sides, Maddie? What did Phantom do to make you finally trust him, protect him even. No matter, I won't leave. Not without my prize. And if you won't step away from him, you can join him. It makes no difference to me." Skulker grinned evilly and raised his metal arm. Just as he pressed a button on his suit, Sam managed to fire a well-aimed shot at his neck, throwing his balance off. An indignant yell could be heard from the ghost as he spun around to face her, forgetting about his new weapon that he had activated. A blue beam of light shot out from the armour in his suit and formed a large, see-through, blue box around Sam._

_Skulker quickly blasted the weapon that she had previously been holding through a window. "Oh well. Change of plan," He grinned evilly, "Tell the ghost-child that if he knows what's good for him, he will surrender himself to me to save his stupid little girlfriend." He grinned at Maddie, "He has four days or she is mine forever."_

_"He won't fall for it, Skulker!" Sam yelled through the glowing box._

_"Of course not! The whelp may be stupid but he's not an idiot. He will know it's a trap, but he'll come anyway to save his girlfriend," He spat the word out, "He's nothing if not loyal and overprotective. Always the hero," Skulker tutted while shaking his tongue, "And look where that got him."_

_"Then why bother taking Sam? She didn't do anything! She's just a child. Let her go!" Maddie pleaded._

_"No, she will come with me. It makes the hunt more interesting anyway," He chuckled darkly, "To see the ghost-child beg and plead for me to take him, I would do anything to see that, and now," He smiled menacingly at the trapped girl, "Now, I won't have to. So, if you don't mind me, I'll be off. Remember: before the four days are up. And tell him no funny business. If he tries to trick me or ambush me in any way," He pointed to Sam, silent tears sliding down her face as she tried to be strong, and made a slitting motion across his neck, "Got it? Good." He strolled over to the cage, "See you next time, human." _

* * *

_'Girlfriend.'_ She mulled the word over and over in her head, _'Girl. Friend.' _Squinting at the boy lying in front of her, his face placid and innocent looking, she rocked forward in her chair and crossed her legs underneath her, '_Girlfriend. Girlfriend. Girlfriend. Girlfriend. Girlfriend. Girlfriend. Girlfriend.'_ Sometimes, when you say a word enough, it starts to lose its meaning in your mind, it becomes just a sound without any real meaning, however, if this is what Maddie was hoping to achieve, it certainly didn't work.

_'Why didn't I think of that?! What's tying him down to this town is his _girlfriend_. His girlfriend... Sam... Oh god. She's dating a freaking GHOST!' _She shot herself up off her seat and began to pace in front of the window that lined her living room wall, _'Well... Not a ghost but... Sam. Is. Dating. Phantom. How does that even happen?! Oh god, what about Danny?! He'll be heartbroken. He really liked her too...'_ A corner of her mouth tugged down as she continued to worry for Sam_, 'But maybe,'_ A small voice at the back of her mind reasoned, _'He's not going out with Sam at all... Maybe Skulker was just saying that...' _"Maybe you're just jumping to conclusions! But would it really matter if they were together? After all, Phantom's not even really a ghost, is he? But maybe that makes it worse..."

"So what exactly do you think I am?" A voice sounded from behind her.

* * *

**Cliff hanger! I have more but I don't want to make this one too big – the next chapter is important. The next chapter that I'm working on might be a bit longer so... Yeah!**

**Now if you don't mind (if you do, scroll past), allow me to talk at you for a moment.**

**School term has just restarted and I now have rediscovered why I started this fic in the first place – Creativity. I'm not good at art or dance, I can't be bothered to practice the piano so I feel like when the school term starts, all creativity that I am allowed to think about on holidays gets bottled up in my mind and shoved into a dark corner where something is constantly dripping making that really irritating ****_'Plop... Plop... Plop...'_**** noise. I only do this so that I am marginally capable of sitting through the teachers lectures without breaking down into a rainbow puddle of goo on the ground in the middle of class as the small amount of creativity I actually have slowly melts me from the inside out. I mean sure, we have English at school, and we write stuff. But it's not free range stories! Analytical essays on films and monologues, they don't help creativity, they stunt it... Or pack it into tiny little boxes of impenetrable DOOM! (Beware!) Anyway... Writing these stories actually help my focus during school term by releasing all the excess and pointless crap that intrudes on my thoughts all day. Along with stimulating my otherwise computer fried brain, this story also helps feed my procrastination addiction (now ****_THAT_**** should be one of the seven deadly sins... Well, then it would be the eight deadly sins, but you get what I mean)! Anyway, thanks for listening. **

**ALSO. It seems as though none of you are into Tumblr?! Let me enlighten you.**

**A ship is when you like the idea of two or more people being in a relation'ship' (not always sexual but who am I kidding) and you smoosh two traits of theirs together to create a name. It also doesn't have to be true in any way. For instance, I like the idea of Dan Howell (Danisnotonfire) and Phil Lester (AmazingPhil) being together in a relationship. In this case, the trait used is their names. So you get 'Phan'. **

**An OTP is your 'One True Pairing' which basically is the ship that you believe in or like the most.**

**Did I just change your life? I hope so. :P **

**As always, please let me know of your thoughts on this chapter and let me know what you think about my opinion on creativity and school! I love reading your responses, some of them make me smile, and others make me feel dumb, but that's ok! I don't mind... *sobs and crawls into the corner ready to die***

**See you in a couple of days,**

**XX  
TOWSYC**

**~You've got questions? I've got cheese.~**


	8. and none but two would know

**Oooops! I thought that this would be done but the weekend, but I scrapped the original idea for it and started over. A lot.**

**NicoCheesediPizzaAngelo: Yay! JOIN THE AUSSIE CLUB. Yeah, Phantom fans are called Phans, but if you search that in the tumblr tags, you'll mainly find it filled with Dan and Phil smut fics *shudders*.**

**Sonochu: This one just kind of wanted to though! It is, however, slightly less dramatic. I will try not to do it too often any more.**

**Anne O'Brien: **

**1. No, YOU have a nice day. *DON'TTELLMEWHATTODO***

**2. YOU SHALL NEVER TAKE MY YELLOW BATHTUBS. However, you can admire them from a distance.**

**3. I can see where you're coming from. I ship them in more of a 'naw aren't they adorable' way. Not the whole 'THEY DO HAVE BUTT SEX IN TENTS!1!one! THEY DO IT ALL THE TIME. I SEEN IT WITH MY OWN EYESSSSS *twitches*' way.**

**4. Oh God that is too true. I do love killing people… In stories I mean : )**

**pieluver1800: Why thank you ; ) I try my best!**

**Grey-Skye-eyes: We're getting there! Slowly… Should have more 'working together' in a few chapters *HINTHINT***

**nahte123456: Well, I'm not too sure yet. I'll ask after the end of this fic, which yes will be pretty soon after they get Sam back, but maybe not straight after.**

**See you out the other side!**

* * *

"Maybe you're just jumping to conclusions! But would it really matter if they were together? After all, Phantom's not even really a ghost, is he? But maybe that makes it worse..."

"So what exactly do you think I am?" A voice sounded from behind her.

* * *

To be honest, Phantom had actually been woken by the obnoxious beeping of the microwave reminding his stomach that he hadn't eaten since breakfast, but had decided to continue being 'asleep' until he could wake up without scaring his mother. After hearing his Maddie blurt out her thoughts on his ghost half, he couldn't help but question her about him 'not really' being a ghost. The expression on Maddie's face was priceless as she stood there by the window, obviously flustered that the ghost kid had heard her. She may as well have had a neon sign above her head saying 'busted' as she fumbled for an explanation.

_'NICE GOING, MADDIE. So much for the element of surprise! Idiot. What now?'_ She quickly tried to wade through the mess that had started to clutter her mind to come up with a half-way decent explanation but came up short.

"Well you see, I, uh…"

Although outwardly Phantom was smirking, internally his mind was screaming at him. _'I REALLY shouldn't have asked that question! What the hell was I thinking!? Am I TRYING to get myself dissected? Right. Time for some damage control. She obviously didn't want me to know so let's see if I can postpone this situation for a while…'_ Hoping to keep up his 'at ease' act, he smiled and shook his head at her, "You don't have to tell me now, how about we leave that for a bit later? I'm guessing we have more important stuff to be worried about, judging by the fact that you're helping me... And I'm in your house…?" He forced a confused expression on to his face and mentally crossed his fingers in hope that his diversion would work. It did.

"Uh, right! Of course…" Maddie collected herself and continued briskly, "After you were knocked unconscious, two teenagers; Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley, although I have a suspicion you already know them, came and tried to help you while I was distracted trying to take down Skulker. He managed to get away from me and was starting to go after them too so I told Tucker to go home and check that my son, Danny, was okay but Sam was a good fighter so I stupidly let her stay and well…" She trailed of sighing, looking only the slightest bit distressed, but Danny knew his mother and that was certainly enough to get him worried.

"What. What happened to Sam?" His voice was flat, ground out through his teeth menacingly. Maddie had never heard him sound so angry. She hesitated, cautious about telling him after the reaction that she had just witnessed.

"Please," He said in a gentler voice, "I need to know that she's okay. She is, isn't she?" The teenagers glowing eyes burned intensely into her own.

"Skulker tried to capture you, but she shot him at the last minute and he turned… And he got her instead." She took a deep and closed her eyes momentarily before continuing, "He said that you have four days to save her, Phantom. Otherwise," Maddie swallowed thickly, the words getting caught in her throat, "Otherwise she may not come back at all." The older woman finished avoiding Phantom's gaze, instead looking out the window again. When no response was given, she turned back to him and continued, "I know it was stupid of me to let her stay. Please understand that I feel so guilty right now. And worried! If I wasn't, I probably wouldn't be here with you now asking you this," She at his expressionless face, "Help me get Sam back." Her question came out as more of a statement, "I am not going to pretend that there won't be any danger, but if I were be able to ju-"

"Don't." He cut off her rambling, "I'm sorry, but I really just need to think for a moment. Can I just have a second alone?" His green eyes flashed dangerously. Maddie was able to sense the change in electrically charged tension in the room slowly building.

Maddie, not surprisingly, took that as her turn to leave. "Of course." With that, she nodded and turned sharply on her heal and walked stiffly out of the room.

* * *

Saying that Maddie was alarmed was certainly an understatement. Now she didn't just have one of the human world's most dangerous ghosts in her house, oh no. He was now a very dangerous, and very, very angry ghost. _'What if he can't do it without his powers?_ _What if we can't get Sam back? _Of course he can't do it without his powers, Maddie! _What kind of a question was that?! You need weapons to take down a freaking ghost, and his are gone! _

_Why did you let her get taken in the first place!? She's his girlfriend! Well maybe… What do you expect him to say!? "Yeah. It's ok. She's my girlfriend so I'll go and die a second time for her, no biggie!" Pfft. More like, "Oh, jeeze, I'm sorry, but I can't save her without handing over my afterlife on a plate. So I'm gonna have to say no. But that's okay! She can rot with an evil ghost for the rest of her life. After all, it's not my fault – It's yours! Shame."' _She internally groaned at the thought of the imminent conversation and wished to God that the ghost wouldn't get too angry. He was too dangerous when worked up and very unpredictable._ 'Why couldn't you have waited to tell him!? Or maybe…'_ The thought struck Maddie, _'Maybe I'm actually lucky… Even if he wanted to attack me right now in his… Condition, I am almost sure I would either be able to get away or attack him first…'_

One thought had managed to wiggle its way into Maddie's mind several times throughout to day though, _'Why did I save him?'_ Maddie paused the pacing that she had started in the kitchen and stared at the wall, deep in contemplation. Why _did_ she save him? She let a perfectly safe, not evil girl who happened to be her son's crush get kidnapped just because she was so hell bent on protecting the stupid ghost kid. She softly kicked the corner of the wall where she had been standing in frustration.

"It should have been me, you know." And eerie voice echoed her thoughts from the doorway behind where she was standing. She jumped at the sudden noise and whipped around to face him. "So why wasn't it? Don't tell me you haven't thought the same thing, I'm sure you have."

"I don't know to be honest." She narrowed her eyes at how he was trying to support his weight by leaning on the wall without drawing too much attention to the fact that he was still in a lot of pain, his still dislocated shoulder causing his arm to hang loosely at his side. "You shouldn't be up, you know."

"Neither should you."

"Huh?"

"It's two in the morning, Maddie."

Although it was not the first time she had been addressed by Phantom, her name still sounded strange when being spoken by the teen. Looking out the window, she finally felt the last of the adrenaline which she had subconsciously been harbouring since 'the incident', dissipate into nothingness as the overwhelming sense of exhaustion caught up with her.

"Oh." Was all she managed to say while she internally shook the fuzziness that had started to blur her senses, making her less alert.

Phantom smiled and took a sudden step towards her. _'He's going to kill me now.'_ She thought, though strangely her brain was as calm as if it subconsciously didn't believe it, _'I am going to die and I can't do anything to stop it.'_ Noticing the look of half-hearted fear displayed on her face, Phantom put his hands out as if to show he wasn't a threat and retreated a step backwards.

"I was just going to say you should go to bed and get some sleep." Creases appeared between his eyebrows, "You still really don't trust me, do you?"

"Why should I?" She scoffed although the question felt bitter on her tongue. _'Why can't I?'_

"Fine. I'll go back and sit on the couch, and I promise I'll still be there when you wake up," He quickly added upon seeing to look on her face, "But you really do need to sleep. I won't hurt you." He gave a small smile before giving himself a small push-off off the wall and hobbled back over to the couch. "See?" He said gesturing to himself, "Sitting. Lying. Staying. Okay?"

"Okay." She breathed, lingering for a moment longer before she turned and sluggishly shuffled off to bed, almost tripping on the stairs as she did so.

She placed her ecto-guns on the bedside table as a precaution (she may have been dead tired, but years of training meant that she was able to jump out of bed as soon as her body sensed danger), took off her boots, slid into bed – still clad in her jumpsuit. Dreams started filtering through her mind before her head even hit the pillow.

* * *

_It was Phantom. He was standing no more than ten feet away on the roof of a building, staring at the town below him. In the golden sunset, he looked at ease with her presence and his eyes sparkled as he spoke to her._

_"This," He gestured to the town, "Is what I exist to protect. This is my home."_

_"Why?" Maddie asked, staring at the unremarkable buildings and people that stood under his watchful gaze, "It's nothing special, no offence. It's just a town."_

_"And in this particular town, are people who I have known, who have known me. Who I've loved, and who've loved me. They are the people I protect. However, I couldn't just protect a small group of people. For example, take Sam Manson. I want to protect her, so that means that I have to protect her family and friends because when they are hurt, so is she. _

_And it becomes a domino effect. I have to protect everyone in this town, because it is my duty and debt to the people I care about. I have so much more power and responsibility than them, it's important that I don't lose sight of the most human of emotions and the reason why I do what I do." He smiled proudly, "I do this not because I have to, but because I feel I should."_

_She closed the small amount of distance between them and wrapped her arm around his shoulder affectionately, "You're still so young. When did you get this wise, Danny? It seems that Jazz has been rubbing off on you after all."_

_Suddenly he turned so he was facing her, a twinkle in his eye. "Do you trust me?"_

_She nodded back smiling at him. _

_He grabbed her hand and squeezed it._

_Then they fell._

* * *

**I PROMISE, you can hold me to this, THAT THERE WILL BE ANOTHER UPDATE THIS WEEKEND. I SWEAR. IT MIGHT BE A BIT SHORT (not as long as this one) BUT IT WILL BE THERE. I HOPE.**

**Remember when I said "I'm aiming to make this fic 7-10 chapters long and am aiming to have it done by this time next month"? Yeah, I lied. This is going to be WAAAAY longer (closer to 15-20? Maybe more?) and take quite a bit more time. Ugh. Stupid… I'm not even at the end of ONE FREAKING DAY. HOW LONG IS THIS FREAKING STORY GONG TO BE OMG THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE. How weird is that though? I haven't even finished writing a full day!? **

**THANK YOU.**

**THANK YOU.**

**THANK YOU.**

**Last chapter I reached 50 favourites, 100 followers and 100 reviews! I also got the most reviews on that chapter too. Thank you so much for your continued support of what I thought was going to be a shitty little story that no one was going to read so I could boost my English grades. Instead, thanks to you guys, I've made a couple of new friends, have a speck of creativity showing (it's about bloody time) and am enjoying the whole experience. You guys are all freaking amazing and lovely and I just want to hug you all because you are so nice. Is that weird? Meh. I guess not… **

**That's about it! **

**See you in LESS THAN FOUR DAYS I PROMISE.**

**Bye ^_^**

**Xx**

**TOWSYC**

**~Cheese – Clearly a better solution.~**


	9. Well, three now but you get the point

**Yup. Now you can kill me. I'm sorry! I promised to update over a week ago and I didn't. Go ahead and take my cheese. I don't care. I don't even feel like it. That's how upset I am. *Sobs***

**Learning from this week, I won't be able to post twice a week anymore : ( I thought I could manage it, but apparently the world has decided for teachers to start giving out assignments on the third week back at school. I mean seriously. Who does that?! **

**Grey-Skye-eyes: Naw thanks! I wasn't sure if it was necessary but you guys seemed to like it so… Yay! I got a hug! :3 I feel loved. Also, no I haven't! I shall try it next time I'm at McDonalds…**

**anjtheartistphantom stalks you: Excuse me? Two rules in this fanfic: **

**1. Your cheese is MY CHEESE. **

**2. My cheese, is MY CHEESE. **

**Learn them. Live them. And most importantly, OBEY THEM.**

**NicoCheesediPizzaAngelo: You'll never know *wooooOOOOOooooo* And yay! More hugs :3**

**tardis-blue-jay: Wahay! We have another. I wonder how many will notice this week? Do not fret! Closing questions are back! I don't want to run out of questions… I know! Johnlock is the cutest :3 There is. The shipping name is Amethyst-Ocean. Yes, the ASDF reference was intentional! Someone else picked up on it! Woooooooooo! I was going to use that one for the last chapter (don't ruin the surprise goddammit).**

**kebby7130: Is it cheese pizza?**

**FLAMING LLAMA DANCE PARTY! (on with the story)**

* * *

Down below in the living room, Danny lay awake. He had long since turned off all the lights and fixed himself a glass of water before planting himself back on the couch. Fenton Works was eerily still, with no external noise seeping in from the street outside due to the hour and no movement from the people within. Staring through the thick blanket of darkness that had settled itself over every corner of the house, the injured teen blankly stared at the ceiling trying to sort out what exactly happened, his mind still not processing the enormity of it all. Occasionally, he would glance over at the images still playing on the T.V., the only light source in the house, only to decide that even Dr Phil couldn't fix his problems and go back to imagining patterns in the plain white plaster roof.

Danny felt guilty for being as comfortable as he was; he was warm, he had water, the couch was comfortable, and the majority of his injuries had been tended to. He couldn't bear to think of what Sam would be going through as he sat doing nothing on the couch. By far the most frustrating part about all of this to him was that he knew that he couldn't help her, at least not yet.

_'Sam… Does she think that I have just given up on her? No. She knows me better than that. She would have to understand that something was keeping me from her. I'll miss her, so much when I'm gone. I wish I had told her I lo- like her. I wonder how she'll take my surrender... Probably not very well. Tucker better take good care of her for me… SHIT! TUCKER! How could I forget!?'_

Hobbling over to the Fenton home phone, he quickly dialled Tuckers mobile and eased himself slowly back onto the couch, hissing in pain.

"Whatdayawaaaaaaaaaaant?" Tucker moaned into the phone.

"It's me."

Tucker's voice perked up instantly. "You're alive! Hallelujah! Are you okay, dude? You looked pretty beat up."

"I'm fine. Look Tuck, Sam's been taken."

"I know."

"And I ju-" Danny stopped, "Wait, you know?"

"Yup. Your Mum called me to keep you at mine for the next couple of days and she told me what to and not to tell you and her parents."

"Okay then… That makes this a lot easier. Look, I'm not sure if I'm going to have the chance to speak to you again, so I'm just gonna say this now; I don't think I am going to come back this time."

"What do you mean?"

"Skulker has Sam. In order to save Sam, I have to surrender myself to Skulker in less than four days' time otherwise, Sam is his, to keep, or kill. That was the deal. He 'wants my pelt on his wall', remember?"

"But Danny-"

"The only reason I'm not busting Sam out right now is because I am just too weak." He cut in before Tucker could finish. "Knowing Skulker, he'd try to keep both of us if he could, and I don't want that to happen."

"And Fenton?"

That was the ultimate question: what would happen to Fenton? At the back of his mind, Danny had been turning this thought over and over, although he hadn't had a chance to think about it properly.

"I don't know," He said in a voice barely above a whisper, before clearing his throat and continuing, "Just say… Oh, I don't know! How about this: wait 24 hours for me to return, if I don't, then you can reveal the secret."

"Are you sure, man?" Tucker sounded unsure, "What if you make it back after I tell your parents? Then what?"

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, if I even get to it… Which is unlikely."

"Dude, you always get out of it! You can do it again. You'll make it back."

"Tuck, if it's a choice between my life and hers, you already know what the answer will be."

Tucker chose to ignore that and quickly moved on to a safer topic, relishing what may be their last few moments together, well as together as you can be when you're talking on the phone to someone. "So what's wrong with you?"

Tucker could practically feel Danny roll his eyes through the phone line, "To be honest, what isn't wrong with me would be a better question. Lots of burns, dislocated shoulder, twisted ankle that I think was a fracture before and a cut on my head… I think."

"You think?"

"Well it's been all bandaged up."

"Wait. You're mum looked after Phantom!? Where you conscious? What did she say? Do you know why?"

"Yes, she looked after Phantom. No, I wasn't conscious. We haven't spoken too much. And again, no, I don't know why." He paused before adding, "However she did blurt out that she knew I wasn't a full ghost…"

"She WHAT!? How?"

"I know. I'll probably find out why tomorrow and I'll let you know if I can. She just blurted out her thoughts, as she does."

Tucker made an agreeing noise as he remembered all off the weird thoughts that Maddie had only spoken the end of out loud.

"Tuck, I'm gonna let you go back to sleep now. I'll give you another ring if I can, okay?"

"Pfft! I can't just go back to sleep now that you just told me all of this!"

"Well, you're gonna have to because I can barely talk anymore because I'm so tired."

"Fine." Tucker amended, "And Danny?"

"Hmm?"

"You're going to get her back. She is going to be fine. And you are _both_ going to make it out alive, you hear me?"

"Thanks Tuck, but if I don't, just make sure you explain everything to Jazz."

"Of course. If, by some extremely unlikely reason, I never hear from you again after tonight, just know that we will always be thinking of you, okay? I'd miss you, dude. You're my best bud. No one could ever replace you. "

"You too, Tuck. Look after them for me, okay?" Danny said referring to his family.

"I will."

"G'night, Tuck."

"Night, Danny."

Danny then hung up and made his way back over to the counter. Making sure he put the phone back exactly where he had found it, he slowly shuffled back to where he had made his makeshift bed and carefully lay down.

Every time he closed his eyes, he imagined Skulker sharpening his knives advancing towards Sam, and Sam's terrified face as she pleaded for Danny to make it stop.

_'If he so much as touches a hair on her head, I don't care if my powers are gone, his afterlife will be over.'_ Calming his anger he let out a shaky breath, his glowing green eyes flashing brighter in the gloom, _'Hang in there, Sam. I'll get you out of there if it's the last thing I do.' _

He closed his eyes and sunk into the couch, finally allowing sleep to envelop his consciousness, only one thought echoing through his mind.

_'I promise.'_

* * *

Sam woke to a pounding head and a dry, raw throat. Sleepily pulling herself into an upright position, she stared blankly at the cage that still enclosed her before letting out a sigh and leaning the back of her head against the cool, glass-like surface. The room she was in appeared to be a large metallic dome with doors leading off here and there. Weapons lined every possible inch of the walls and various "battle trophies" were stored in glass cabinets or cages, some alive and some, not so much.

In terms of escape roots, there were three obvious doorways that Sam could see. Leading out from the one in front of her, there was a tunnel that seemed to lead to some sort of natural light (well, as natural as you can get in the ghost zone), leading Sam to guess that that door was the way out. The door to her right seemed to lead to a smaller room. She could just make out a green blinking screen with a few dozen yellow dots on it and a single red one. Obviously it was a tracking map, and as for what it was tracking, Sam was able to take an educated guess to assume the red dot was Danny. With those two doors out of the question, the door to her left was the next to be analysed, only to be quickly dismissed due to the fact that the eerie screams and shrieks that Sam had been hearing ever since waking seemed to be originating from behind it. The thing that concerned her the most, however, was the fact that in all of these rooms, there was no sign of Skulker.

_'How long have I been out? Is he just going to leave me here until Danny comes? What would he be doing that's more important than his bait? Or maybe that's just it! Maybe he's setting a trap so that Danny will think that he's gone so he'll come and try to break me out and Skulker will trap him then!'_

Hearing activity outside, she quickly lay back down on the floor of the cage and pretended to be asleep. As much as she might have wanted to give Skulker a piece of her mind, she wanted to see what he was up to more. Two voices rang out through the cave.

"You got here much faster than I anticipated." Sam heard Skulker's voice approaching her as his shadow danced off the shiny metallic walls.

_'Danny's here.'_ Sam let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding. A second shadow joined Skulker's, making its way down the tunnel behind him. "Indeed. Of course, after hearing that a plan to capture the child might actually work, let alone one of yours, I just _had_ to see all the details first had. And might I say, if the gossip is correct, you've done a very nice job." The voice was so sickly sweet that it made her want to hurl.

Finally the footsteps seemed to enter the main room. Sam could hear Skulker's loud mechanical footsteps followed by some quieter, slower ones. She heard the clanging footsteps stop and the other continue right up the edge of the cage.

"Hello, Samantha."

She opened her eyes sharply to find herself glaring straight into the smirking face of Skulker's guest. "Plasmius. What a surprise." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

_'Shit.' _

* * *

Maddie blearily opened her eyes having had the best night's sleep in a very long time. Jack's snoring usually kept her up; even with earplugs! _'I wonder how he's doing… I bet he's already eaten all the fudge. I'll have to call him later. Same with Jazz! I wonder how it all went. I hope she made it in time. She would have, Jazz Fenton's never late. Hopefully she's having some fun… I wonder how Danny's doing at Tucker's… DANNY!' _She sat up in a start and the room spun around her_, 'Is he still downstairs? Probably not… How could you let yourself sleep in so late?! It's… Oh my god it's ten o'clock!'_

Quietly racing down the stairs in case the infamous Phantom was still asleep on her couch, it wasn't until she reached the ground floor that her brain registered the noise. _'What the hell…?'_

Sure enough, when she rounded the corner she was greeted by a gloveless Phantom whistling along to the radio while limping around her kitchen making bacon and eggs.

He looked so completely at ease in her kitchen that Maddie had the urge to laugh. The sunlight was dancing off his dishevelled white hair, still flattened from sleep, to form the illusion of a lopsided halo hovering above his head. Humming along to whatever crap teenage music was playing at the time, he handled the food as carefully and skilfully as any human would.

"I gotta go back to bed. Although, I must admit, this is a bit of a weird one, even for me."

Phantom's whistling cut off as he turned to smile over his shoulder. "Nah. You're not dreaming. Good morning, by the way." He turned back to the pan to flip the bacon.

"Right." Maddie rubbed her face and blinked a couple of times, sitting herself down at the breakfast table, taking a sip of the juice that he had already set up for them, "I'm really not dreaming this am I?"

"Nope. Sorry, you really are awake. But, if it makes you feel any better, I did make food. I figured you might not want to make breakfast considering you were up half the night looking after me. So… Here I am… Making breakfast…" He looked through a couple of cupboards quickly opening and shutting them.

"You looking for something?"

He smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, where are the plates?"

Maddie directed him towards the cupboards over the stove before standing and grabbing the cutlery off the bench that he had gotten out earlier and setting up the table she had been sitting at. After she had finished, she had a nagging feeling that something was off before noticing what it was. "You've made enough for two people. You've got two knives, and two forks. Two cups, two plates, two everything."

"That's right." He raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Is there something wrong?" His confused expression quickly changed one of understanding, "Oh! You don't want me to eat with your stuff? I mean, I could eat-"

"You eat."

"Yeah?" He gave a shaky laugh.

"You eat _food_."

"Yeah." He now smiled, realising what she was so freaked out about.

"Since when?!"

"Since forever, I guess." He shrugged and handed her a plate full of food.

"Oh." She said, sitting down at the table and staring at her food, for a moment deep in thought, "This wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you're not all ghost, would it?"

Phantom seemed to hesitate for a second, "Yes, yes it would."

"Oh." She said again. "Do you _have_ to eat?"

"I can survive just as long as you without food. Maybe a bit longer if I don't use my powers." He shrugged and gave her a sheepish look. "So… Can I use your plates?"

"Oh! Of course! Please. Uh… Sit?"

"Thanks."

When walking around Maddie, Phantom gave an unnecessarily wide allowance of space and seemed to limp over a bit slower and more exaggeratedly than usual, however slightly. Pulling out the chair opposite her, he gradually sunk down into his chair, eyeing Maddie as if he was gauging her reaction.

"What?" She asked, feeling a bit self-conscious.

"What?" He replied feigning innocence, "I'm not doing anything."

She rolled her eyes, "I promise I'm not going to shoot you, zap you, blast you or harm you in any way unless provoked."

"Uh, I was actually going to say the same thing to you. Except I can't do that stuff even if I wanted to." He gave a nervous chuckle, "Which I don't." His face grew serious. Noticing the lack of reaction, he took another look at the expression on his mother's face. "You trust me." He said it as a statement rather than a question, his gaze searching for the cause of her changed opinion.

"Please, eat." Was all she said, giving a small smile and beginning to eat her food as she sorted out her thoughts. _'Phantom was doing that for me? He thought that I wouldn't like it if he walked closer? Actually, he thought that I wouldn't like it if I ate off the same plate as him, so that's not that much of a surprise." _Her heart twisted,_ "I shouldn't like it if he walks close by. So why do I feel guilty about it!' _Maddie's thoughts steadily raced through her mind, _'I trust him. Why do I trust him? Just yesterday I had guns trained on him even when he could barely stand. So what changed? What made me care more about a ghost's, according to my research, non-existent feelings than a chance to take down a danger to Amity Park and the anomaly of my entire knowledge of ghosts? Was it Jazz? No. She asked me to trust him, but that didn't change anything. But if that wasn't it, what was?' _The look on Phantom's face as she was thinking reminded her so much of Danny…

_'That's it. It's the fact that he is still a kid, now permanently, and he had a life, had a family, in Amity Park. I'm hunting some poor mother's Danny, whether she knows it or not, and I can't do that. He's a teenager. He has been granted life after death, and yet he spends his time looking after the people in Amity Park.' _The brief thought of Phantom watching over his city triggered a hazy memory from her dreams.

_Suddenly he turned so he was facing her, a twinkle in his eye. "Do you trust me?"_

_She nodded back smiling at him. _

_He grabbed her hand and squeezed it._

_Then they fell._

"A dream." After noticing his eyebrow quirk in confusion she continued, "A dream made me trust you. It sounds a bit strange when I say that out loud, but it's true. Anyway. That's not important." She took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts, "What I'm trying to say, is that I'll trust you until you give me a reason not to. And so far, you haven't. I may have been a bit hard on you for the past year or so, so I'll do what so many people have been asking me to do, I'm going to put aside the science and the judgements and… Just trust. It sounds easier out loud than it actually is, well, at least for me." She gave a shaky laugh. Looking down at her now finished plate of food, she raised her eyes so that they were level with the teenager's luminescent ones. "But do _you_ trust _me_?"

"Believe it or not… Maddie, I always have. But thank you." He replied with a smile dancing across his features.

Maddie simply nodded, although internally half her brain was screaming that she was making a big mistake, and the other half was screaming that it was about damn time. Blocking out the negative thoughts that could potentially save her life, she smiled and collected their plates and made her way over to the sink, turning her back on him while doing so even though her fighting instincts were screaming 'You're an idiot!'.

Hearing the slow footsteps of Phantom approaching her from behind, she forced herself not to turn as he paused beside her.

"I'll dry?" He asked after a second.

Maddie handed him a dish towel, "That would be great." She gave him a smile, "Thanks."

_'I'm trusting Phantom.'_

* * *

**Woaaaah… That's 3100 words worth of story there. You better be happy!**

**QUESTION TIME:**

**1. If you could live in any book universe, what would it be?**

**Skulduggery Pleasant's. 'Nuff said.**

**2. What do you think the best word is (in terms of meaning or the most fun to say)?**

**Food, serendipity, teppanyaki**

**3. If you were forced to kill yourself, and it wouldn't hurt and you were guaranteed to come back to life with no injuries, how would you do it?**

**Um… Bomb dive off the Grand Canyon? Open a door on a plane? PUSH THE RED BUTTON. **

**See you next week,**

**TOWSYC**

**~Light as a breeze, soft as cheese~**


	10. Filler because I need to build tension

**Hi.**

**What? You want me to say something? Nah. I'll leave it for now. I can't think of anything.**

**Grey-Skye-eyes: Yay! You gave me questions! Thanks :) My answers are at the end. Zombie hoard does sound good… Didn't think of that one.**

**Azorawing: I've never had a snickerdoodle! What is it? **

**tardis-blue-jay: Sherlocking it would be dramatic… Have you seen the new season's trailer? John looks like he has a squirrel stuck to his top lip! :P I have no idea how people don't notice… It just shows how many people read these things on their phones.**

**Princessofwriting: Naw thanks :D A fourth person! People. We now have FOUR. **

**BlueLightningXD: Thanks for giving this a shot :) I am trying not to make it too corny or predictable, but there's only so much you can do. Nuke seems like a pretty good way to go…**

**On with it!**

* * *

Finally the footsteps seemed to enter the main room. Sam could hear Skulker's loud mechanical footsteps followed by some quieter, slower ones. She heard the clanging footsteps stop and the other continue right up the edge of the cage.

"Hello, Samantha."

She opened her eyes sharply to find herself glaring straight into the smirking face of Skulker's guest. "Plasmius. What a surprise." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

_'Shit.'_

* * *

"You did well, Skulker, you actually managed to take the girl out of the boy's sight."

"He didn't stand a chance!" Skulker gloated, "She was in my grasp far easier than I had expected."

"That wouldn't have been because the ghost boy was already out cold, would it?" Plasmius said, cutting Skulker's cherry-glazed version of events to ribbons using only his tone.

Skulker grumbled something Sam didn't catch and walked off to get something from the room with the tracking map. Taking advantage of the metal-headed ghost's absence, Vlad whirled around to face Sam, dramatically as everything he does is, with his white and red cape billowing out around him. Although Sam had seen Vlad at his most polite, his most vulnerable and most obnoxious moments, the glint in his eyes as he smiled at her let her know that he wasn't just here on a whim to stop by – not that he ever really does anything without considering the benefits that it will bring him first – he was here with an agenda, a plan of his own.

Sam wasn't sure which of the two ghosts she feared most at this point. Skulker had Danny and her stuck at the moment, she was well aware of that, but Danny had beaten Skulker countless times in the past, how would this be any different? Danny would have a pretty good chance of getting out without too many near-death experiences. However, she knew Skulker had no humanity to feel pity or mercy with, so if Danny tried to pull something, or even if Skulker just got bored, she could easily become one of the countless trophies lining his wall herself. She may have been more than capable of handling and protecting herself with an ecto-gun and a well thought-out plan, but weapon-less, trapped in the ghost zone and with no real plan, Sam didn't like the odds.

She did know, however, that Vlad wouldn't go back on his word if he gave her it saying that he wouldn't harm her in anyway. Sam liked to think that she knew the man almost as well as she knew Danny and that could prove as an advantage later on. But at the same time, Danny had never beaten Vlad, and she wasn't sure if he could yet. If Danny beat him, or even if he didn't, she wasn't sure about consequences that the battle would bring, and if, in the end, her freedom would be worth them. Sure she'd love to get of the freaking cage that she was trapped in, but would it really be right to risk Danny's life any more than it's being risked now?

Sam was shook out of her thoughts by Vlad calling out to the other room, apparently he had had grown tired of creepily grinning like a Cheshire cat at her. "Skulker, would we be able to see what the child is up to? I'd just love to see how he's dealing with all this."

"And how do you think we would do that? I might be able to take on the whelp right now, but I'd rather not risk my afterlife in the human huntress' house."

_'So he's either at Valarie's place, or Fenton Works. What the hell is he doing there? Isn't he injured? Oh God… Maddie's got him! She must have taken him after Skulker left! Oh God… Danny could be being dissected right now and I'm stuck in this stupid piece of shit cage!'_

"Send in the Box Ghost with a camera. He goes there anyway – it'll be a blessing for the boy not to be able to blast him for once."

"I like your thinking," He grabbed a small device off the wall, "Go fetch him for me." The look that crossed the halfa's face was a mix between complete shock and outrage, "I'd rather not leave you with my prisoner, if you wouldn't mind."

Plasmius snorted, "I have nothing to gain by setting your pathetic little prisoner free."

"Even so." When the halfa didn't move he added, "I'm waiting."

Sending a final glare Vlad stalked over to the cave entrance, "I will do it this once, and this once only. If you are wise though, you won't expect me to do anything for you in the future, Skulker. I might not take so nicely to being ordered around next time." With a final over dramatic flick of his cape, he vanished down the tunnel, the echoing sound of his boots hitting the metal floor slowly fading into nothingness.

* * *

"I was wondering…"

Phantom rolled his eyes with a playful grin, "Here we go."

"What?" She asked innocently, "I'm just asking a question."

They were currently sitting in the living room, Phantom stretched out on the couch with his feet raised on the arm rest, and Maddie perched cross-legged on the armchair that she had moved to be opposite him.

"Continue."

"As I was saying, I was wondering when you learned to cook?"

Phantom burst out laughing, "You have me here, trapped inside your house with no powers, and you're telling me that the most urgent question on your mind is about my cooking skills?"

Maddie couldn't help but smile at herself, "Well... When you put it like that…" She trailed off, "But I'm being serious here, that was good. How did you know how to do all that?"

"Well, believe it or not, I was human once, a teenager in fact. I'd watched my parents cook – or at least attempt to – for all my life. I got hungry one day and decided to make myself breakfast. I learnt just like every other teenage boy, it's just that now, I happen to be a ghost." He shrugged and started playing with the bandages around his arms.

"Kind of."

He gave a sad smile for a reason unknown to Maddie, "Yeah, kind of." He said softly.

Watching Phantom absentmindedly pick at the bandages she had applied the night before reminded her with a start about his injuries.

"Uh, you may not like this, Phantom, but those have got to be changed."

"Huh?" He looked at her blankly before seeming to realise what she was talking about, "Oh! The bandages. Right. Uh…?"

Maddie stood up and left the room, only to return with the first-aid kit from the night before. "Here." She said, gesturing for him to sit on the arm chair where she had just been. Heaving himself of the chair, he strode across the room and plonked himself down rather ungracefully.

_'Something's not right here. What is it?'_ Maddie did a double-take. "Your arm."

Phantom looked confusedly at her, "What about my arm?"

"It was dislocated."

"Oh yeah. I fixed it. It's fine now."

"How do you 'fix' a dislocated shoulder by yourself? And even if you did fix it, it should still be sore but you were making breakfast."

"Well, I dislocate stuff a lot. Elbows are the worst… Or maybe kneecaps? It was just my shoulder so for them you can reset it as long as you have one arm that works and a wall. You just line the shoulder up with the corner of the wall and ball your fist and put it under your arm. Then you just push your shoulder into the wall in whatever way you need to in order to reset it. My healing powers did the rest." He recited quickly. _'Someone's made him memorise how to do that.'_

"How often do you get hurt in a fight?" She said beginning to unwrap his bandages.

Phantom thought for a moment, "It depends who I'm fighting. And it depends what you mean by 'hurt'." Maddie's brows furrowed, "If it's a weak ghost ranging from about level one to three, like the ghost box and the ectopusses, I might get a few scratches but nothing that takes more than a few minutes to heal." He glanced towards Maddie at the mention of his unnatural healing abilities, but she showed no reaction; she had already seen them at work.

"If it's a level four to six, I might have some bigger cuts depending on their chosen weapons, and some minor burns and bone fractures – cracked ribs seem to be a favourite – and they usually take a couple of hours to get over. For level six to eight, I will definitely have broken bones and dislocations, definitely more severe burns and 'caus they're usually the ones trying to hurt me more seriously. The ghosts that are in the lower power ranges don't normally bother trying.

"I have only ever met two ghosts that are in the power range between nine and ten, and they are usually trying to kill me or, one in particular, get me out of the way for another one of their stupid plans. So I will get more serious injuries with them. In some cases, even life threatening. I try not to mess with them too much, but it seems that they like to mess with me."

_'He's fought a level ten ghost? And he's alive? How is that possible? He must be stronger than I thought…'_ Maddie took a moment to absorb all the information. "Ok… You have levels for ghosts?"

"Well yeah. There's gotta be _some_ way to classify them, so I use power levels. Wouldn't you have something similar?"

"Well yes. That's the thing. I have something very similar…" Maddie had actually just lost it when her files were destroyed the previous day, but she had remembered most of the information anyway.

"Oh, do you?" Said Phantom, feigning innocence as best he could.

"What's an example of a level one or two ghost on your scale?" Maddie leaned in, interested in the topic.

"Probably the best example wou –" He cut off with a small gasp, she could just faintly make out that a light mist escaped his lips as he did so. _'He looks like Danny right before he usually runs away…?'_ Internally shaking the thoughts from her head she brought herself back to the present. Before she could ask what was the matter she was interrupted by an all too familiar voice.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST. FEAR ME! FOR NOW, THE GHOST-BOY IS WEAK! HE SHALL NOT TRAP ME IN HIS CYLINDRICAL CONTAINER OF DOOM! THERE IS NO ONE WHO CAN SAVE YOU FROM MY WRATH."

"Ugh. See, this," Phantom gestured to the Box Ghost who was currently floating mid-air with his arms and legs stretched out in a star shape, "Is the perfect example of a level _one_ ghost."

* * *

**Haaaaai **

**How was that? Let me know! I hope I'm not making it OOC. I don't even know if the characters in this story are the same as in the TV show now because I have thought about them too much. Ugh. My brain hurts. Writers, you get what I mean, right? Or am I just strange? **

**Thanks for the amazing response on this chapter! It's getting better and better every week :D**

**Anyway, I might need some filling scenes in the next few chapters, so just let me know of a scene and I might just use it! I will only take two or three though because this story is pretty full.**

**I hope you guys had an amazing week, and I hope to hear from you all soon.**

**QUESTIONS (Thanks to Grey-Skye-eyes):**

**1. What do you think is the greatest movie quote ever?  
There is probably a better one, but all I can think of at the moment is "There is no spoon."**

**2. What planet is your favorite (can be real or not)?  
Pluto. Because it's not a planet. It's kinda so retarded that I feel bad for it, you know?**

**3. Is the sky blue because of the ocean, or is the ocean blue because of the sky.  
The ocean is blue because of the sky. The sky is blue because of the blackness of space being filtered out to blue because of the light from the sun reflecting on particles in the atmosphere. This is then reflected in water. Fact.**

**Feel free to send me question suggestions for next week :)**

**Xx**

**TOWSYC**

**~If it's gross, it's your mum. If it's the most amazing thing you've ever seen, it's cheese.~**


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